Fierce Winds
by Adena27
Summary: A group of Woads is captured and taken to Arthur, but they are more than he or his knights ever expected. I'm back, and refocused on the stories, 10 is up, more on the way!
1. Default Chapter

It had been weeks since a Woad attack. The Knights were slightly unsettled by this, but at the same time, they were happy to not be risking their lives for Rome's desires. However, patrols of Roman soldiers had been sent out along the wall, and as the summer progressed, even daring to patrol outside of the wall, venturing a mile into the woad territory, almost daring them to come and fight. They got what they wanted, in a way, but not involving Woads.

Damara's POV

Goddamned dog. Nissa's famed "demon dog", that was supposed to be a perfect stealth animal, was the entire reason for why she was now tied up in the dark. But she couldn't fault Nissa anymore. You shouldn't curse the dead. Even if the stupid thing had run off howling when the Roman soldiers had approached, giving away their entire position, and costing the lives of her entire team.

Except for her friend Annuska, really called Ana, who had been off scouting, and Hana, a fierce fighter who was the usual scout but had been recovering from wounds along with the best archer, Kirima, . Of her crew that had been out by the fire, all had been shot by poisoned arrows. She had been sleeping, dozing really, and upon hearing the cries of her comrades had shot out of her tent, only to find herself at the end of a Roman sword. Hana and Kirima had been dragged out and kicked in the head for their resistance to the soldiers.

The soldier who held the weapon at her neck had looked at her in a way that made her wish she had a seriously twisted side that favored torture and had a pair of gelding shears.

"Who are you?" he had demanded. "You're not Woads and you're definitely not Romans, because we Romans aren't as needy yet as to use women for our armies."

She had stared at him, giving him her best Eat shit and die looks.

He hadn't taken the hint.

He had surveyed her a little more, wide eyed at her choice of dress, and had finally had her tied up and thrown over her horse, as had Hana. All of her weapons had been taken, and her baggage, and her friends had been thrown in the fire, cremated before her very eyes. She had turned aside, tortured by the sight of her comrades and friends bodies burned before her by the men who had killed them. She had then been beaten by the soldiers, so that she wouldn't be awake or able to attack them on the ride to the wall. She remembered faintly a popping sound coming from her left shoulder. Great, she thought, one more little problem for me, before blacking out entirely.

Once they had reached the monstrosity of stone resembling every other building in the Roman Empire called the wall, she had been tied even tighter, and thrown into a wooden carriage. She was now being joggled painfully by the motion of the cage she had been placed in. She was sure that her shoulder had been dislocated, and it was paining her to be in this position, not to mention her numbed hands and feet which would be bloody from chafing.

"Damara?" came Hana's voices out of the dim compartment. It sounded hopeful. Hopeful and sad.

"I'm here Hana", she replied.

"Isn't this a lovely setting for royalty Hana?", came Kirima's teasing voice out of the darkest corner. There weren't any windows, but there were a few holes near the top of the wagon, apparently for air. There seemed to be a series of chains along the wall, perhaps for cargo, if this was a supply wagon. At least they'd left the cloaks to the girls, keeping them warm from the cold, bare wagon.

Damara snorted in derision. "Oh, because I'm so used to traveling in luxury and leisure Kirima".

"Just trying to lighten the situation, oh fearless leader".

Fearless. That's funny, Damara thought, because all I'm thinking about now is about when we get to wherever we're going. That, my shoulder, and the spider biting my butt.


	2. Anticipation

I only own the girls, no one else.

Katemary77- thanks for review. Feeling out of the loop w/ Mary Sue or wtf that is.

Next chapter, enjoy!

Anticipation

Gawain's POV

Arthur had finally called us in for a conference. After the days of no Woad attacks, all the Knights were uneasy. Tristan was simply bloodthirsty, Lancelot was happy for all the time he'd had for seducing the local women, and Galahad was happy that everyone could focus their jokes on something else instead of him.

He had called them in without an explanation for why he had called the meeting, so they were all curious.

Once the knights had all sat down, Arthur turned to them from his place on the round table. He looked at them, with brotherly affection, and something else Gawain hadn't seen in a while; it was almost preparation, or apprehension.

"Knights", he began. "I've had word from one of the outposts along the Wall. Apparently one of the patrols was out when they discovered a party of warriors camped near it. I don't know why they were out in Woad territory but according to the report, they captured three of them in the attack that ensued when faced with the enemy. They are bringing them here to see if they have any political value for negotiations with the Woads".

Bors snorted. "Negotiate with Woads. That's a laugh!" He chuckled into his cup of wine. The others laughed along with him, quieting down when they realized Arthur's seriousness.

Lancelot looked at Arthur "What are we going to do when they get here?" he asked.

"Arthur looked at all of them, gazing at the Sarmatian faces before him. "I don't really know myself." He looked down. "We've never had a situation like this before. No Woads have been captured alive, but the captain there said that these were not ordinary warriors."

The knights absorbed this, each contemplating why a Roman captain would say such a thing.

Tristan decided to put his two bits in. "They're either women, not likely, or they're someone he recognizes. Not Merlin, he's too smart, probably just a lower leader, one he's seen before".

"Well the messenger who came with these news said he was only a little while ahead of the supply wagons coming back for provisions that carries the prisoners", Arthur said. As soon as he said this, they heard the groaning of the gates to Hadrian's Wall.

"Let's go give these Woads a proper welcome" Tristan said with a slight grin.

Damara's POV

She had awoken to hear the shouting of men's voices, some authoritative, some commanding. She could swear that she had heard the voice of the commander from the woods, and at that moment her blood had started to boil.

She had nudged Hana awake, and then Kirima, who had always been a heavy sleeper. However, Kirima was skilled with escape, considering how many times she'd pulled the crew out of near disaster.

"Kirima?" Damara said, more a question than any voiced words.

"Under control, sunshine" came the voice, now speaking with a sound of deep concentration in it.

After a few moments, there came the heavy sound of rope falling to the floor. It hadn't been loud, but all the same, Damara had hissed at Kirima.

"Sorry".

"I think we're ok, just shut up and help Hana" she commanded.

"Going, o impatient one".

The same sound was repeated, seconds later, only softer this time. Hana sighed heavily, feeling the blood rushing back into her limbs. Kirima chuckled softly.

"These Romans should really learn how to tie proper knots".

In seconds she was crouching by Damara, fiddling with the ropes. Damara thought of the fact that her shoulder could soon be popped back into place. It was a reassuring idea.

"Shit", came Kirima's voice softly.

"What? What is it?" Damara asked anxiously, peering down at her hands and feet.

"They seem to have tied your rope, and then knotted it off with some kind of iron peg. I can't see anything in this light".

"You mean darkness" Hana said.

"I can at least untie your feet for you, my damita". It was a moment. Kirima had a deathwish. Yet again.

It's the same thing as keeping me entirely tied up. And don't think I missed that damita remark. I am not a helpless little noblewoman" Damara said, the pain in her shoulders increased by ten now with her loss of instant relief.

"It's alright, as soon as they stop we can stage a standoff and get weapons so that you can fix your shoulder. I'll even get your mace, and chain back for you" came Kirima's voice, trying to soothe her.

"With any luck, that time will be soon", came Hana's voice. Looking up, Damara could slightly see Hana's shape trying to see through the window.

"How soon, Hana?" Kirima asked.

"In about two minutes" Hana said, automatically turning to Damara for instructions.

Damara closed her eyes. Thinking about the other roman forts that she'd seen, she quickly formulated a plan within her mind.

"Hana, you go first. When the guard starts to open the door, dive for their weapons. They'll be caught off guard, so take advantage of it. Kirima, you follow, grab the nearest weapon that will make the biggest difference. I will follow behind and go under the wagon to see if I can get rid of this infernal rope. Wait for a standoff, don't fight to kill. Except maybe the leader from the woods. But he's entirely mine."

"He's yours, but we get a chunk", Kirima said, vengeance twisting her voice.

"Fine" said Damara, chips of ice in her voice.

She didn't have time to say anything else before the whole world was flooded with light. Hana jumped and all hell broke loose.

Gawains POV

The other wagons had pulled into the courtyards down by the supply barns. The only one left to arrive was the one carrying the Woad fighters. He could see it from where he was standing within the courtyard. It rolled past the gate, the chains from the horses harnesses rattling as they passed. Finally, it came to a stop in the middle of the courtyard where he stood with the rest of the knights and Arthur.

Arthur stepped forward as a Roman commander stepped down from the front of the wagon.

"Arturius Castus?" the soldier saluted.

"How many are there?" Arthur asked, forgetting formalities.

"Three, all feisty and hard to capture" the soldier replied, a tinge of smugness in his voice. He signaled to a soldier near the door to open it up. "they're all tied up, so it's safe.." he said, as the soldier opened up the door. The Knights and Arthur were still ten feet away when a large something collided with the door from the inside, pushing the soldier to the ground, who dropped his weapons…..


	3. Standoffs and Surprises

Kleptomaniacstoat- nice review, you'll pay for the hatshesut line and if you say anything about this at school, you shall pay.

SpectralLady- thanx for making my story seem like the most lame ass thing on earth (blah-blah-blah!). I need to b kicked off the pedestal occasionally anyway.

Dazzler420- muahahaha! I have more up my sleeve than it seems!

Thanx to oceangirl, ephona, and all other ppl who liked my story

Enjoy! Please R & R!!!

Standoffs and Surprises

Hana went out first, her cloak masking her body movements so that the soldiers couldn't see where she was going. Kirima followed in seconds. Damara saw Hana reaching down for something out of her line of vision as she rolled up onto her knees and standing up. Her cloak covering her, she hopped out of the wagon, pausing for a second as Hana and Kirima fended off attackers with some liberated spears. Turning, she swiftly crawled under the wagon mindful of her shoulder. Looking around, she saw seven pairs of boots moving towards the wagon from the direction of an obvious doorway. Swiveling her head, she saw the boots of a squad of roman soldiers lurking near Hana and Kirima.

Clearing her mind, she looked down at the task at hand, or rather, the task at her hands. Since she could only use her right hand successfully, this was going to be hard. As if a divine being had heard her thoughts, a roman soldier collided with the ground nearest to her side of the wagon. Tied to his belt was a small dagger.

Damara leaned over, dragging him to close to the side of the wagon. As she pulled out the dagger, she looked at his face. She recognized him. He was a soldier who had been present at the campsite that day.

A large, creaking sound interrupted her thoughts. The girls' fight had moved over to behind a wagon adjacent to the container they had been in, probably containing their weapons. Hana or Kirima had shoved two soldiers into it simultaneously, causing it to tip over and land on it's side about three feet from Damara. Her guess had been right she saw, as her mace and chain spilled out along with other possessions. Her eyes narrowed and she reached out to grab it. Her hand closed around the thick cylinder of leather bound wood. As she grabbed it, she realized that the fight had moved closer to her than she'd realized. A sword slashed across her upper right forearm, causing her to grit her teeth and pull back her weapon. Thankfully it was only a slight gash. Finally, when she was back under the wagon, she fiddled with the stupid little iron pegs that kept her captive. Freeing herself, she heard a shout. Looking up, she realized that Hana and Kirima were on the opposite side of the wagon that they had been on, standing braced in front of the seven pairs of boots. Standing, not fighting.

As soon as Damara realized this, she heard a deep voice issuing from one of the pairs of boots near the center. They were telling her girls to drop their weapons and to cooperate with them, considering that they were prisoners. As if, Damara though with a snort. She looked down at her shoulder. She was left-handed with her large sword and this situation was going to present a problem soon. She didn't have enough space to reset her bone here under the wagon which meant that she would have to get out from under it and make her presence known. This was not going to please Hana and Kirima in the slightest bit.

"Damara", she heard Hana say in their language "they know that someone's under the wagon and they want you to come out". Damara could almost hear amusement in her voice. Very funny Hana, thought Damara, you'll pay for this.

Damara pushed her former bonds out, followed by her mace and chain. As she did, she could see some of the soldiers' faces. They couldn't see her face, only her shape, and they seemed surprised and anxious as she pushed her mace out. Pulling up her hood, she then crawled slowly out from under the wagon.

During the fighting, Arthur had told the knights to not engage the two figures that were expertly knocking romans unconscious, but Tristan and Dagonet had strung their bows anyway. They could all see a third figure moving around under the wagon. Gawain was disturbed by this because these figures weren't fighting like Woads, the third figure not fighting at all. They had seemed small for Woads, and it surprised Gawain that they hadn't taken a chance to kill Arthur. All of the Woads wanted to kill Arthur, so why hadn't they tried to?

Arthur's words knocked all of Gawain's thoughts aside. "Stop!!" he commanded in tones that didn't brook argument.

The hoods of the cloaks turned in his direction. "Drop your weapons and submit to the fact that you are prisoners of the Roman Empire", Arthur said. The hoods had recoiled slightly at the words "Roman Empire".

The figures moved, balancing their feet, and lowering their spears so that the heads touched the ground in front of them.

"Now tell your comrade under the wagon to come out. After that, you all must show yourselves" Arthur finished.

One of the figures spoke then. It surprised them all. She wasn't speaking the Woad tongue, but something distinctly different. It had sounded to Gawain as though there had been a name at the beginning, but he couldn't tell. As soon as the figure had spoken, some frayed rope ends with metal ends rolled out of the shadow of the wagon. It was soon followed by a fearsome weapon, a thick cylinder of leather bound wood to which was attached a chain with a huge spiked iron ball. Gawain started to wonder exactly what the romans had caught with their ever-extending net for a greater empire. Then the third figure crawled out, cradling it's left shoulder. From where Gawain was standing, it looked as though the shoulder had been dislocated. The figure stood up slowly, with obvious pain in it's movements. Then there were all three, standing silently.

"Uncloak yourselves. Now" Arthur said imperiously.

The two closer to the knights, who had been fighting hesitated, one even turning to look at the wounded figure. It nodded, as if giving permission. And then came the greatest surprise.

Damara slowly unbuttoned her voluminous cloak, leaving her hood for last. Hana and Kirima had shed theirs moments earlier, leaving her as if for a grand finale. She might just have to throw them off a cliff for this one, she thought. It was almost as if she was back at her aunts court, a trophy put on a stand for people to look at. Her hood whispered as it slid off against her hair, her cloak joining Hana and Kiri's on the ground.

As soon as she had revealed herself along with the girls, the seven men in front of her looked as if they had been hit in the face by a friend. They could now obviously see their unforgivable mistake, Damara thought with a sense of grimness. She and her comrades had no signs of Woads upon them, nor would she want to be related to a people whose language sounded as if they had a speaking problem.

She noticed that all of the men she was standing before had at least a slight attractiveness to them, some of them being downright handsome. Their obvious leader seemed silent, completely affirmed in his role as commander, and also way too old for her. Although an interesting prospect that Hana and Kiri were sure to try and initiate, considering her bloodlines.

There was a curly haired man standing next to him that looked like his brother, and also greatly attractive. Damara noted him for this, and also made a mental note to stay away, certain that he was a playboy. There were two who looked alike as well, one bald and the other with a shaved head. A tall, silent man looked on at them, a disquieting lack of emotion on his face, whereas next to him stood a most innocent looking young man, just past teenage. That left one of the most compelling men she had ever seen.

He had long, tangled blond hair and was dressed in a variation of armor, as were all of them except for the leader, who was dressed in roman battle gear. The attractive man was staring with a surprised look on his face. Good, Damara thought with a smile, they're unsettled by us.

The pain in her shoulder refocused her attention to where it should be. She hated showing weakness in front of these men. She downright despised it. A thought came to her and she smiled grimly, reaching for her incapacitated left hand.

When Arthur had ordered the figures to uncloak themselves, Gawain had heard a bit of bitterness for the Woad warriors. They had after all, just rendered almost entire squad of Roman soldiers unconscious. Not that Gawain cared that the soldiers were all going to be aching when they woke up. It just showed that these were rather disciplined woads, exemplary ones.

Then, they had taken the cloaks off.

Gawain forgot to take in air. He couldn't even work his lungs.

Two of the most exquisite women he had ever seen had shed the billowing layers of fabric that they wore, wearing as much clothing as Gawain had expected from Woads. But then their obvious leader had shed theirs. And the most beautiful woman Gawain had ever seen met the harsh daylight of Briton.

She had honey brown hair that reached a few inches below her shoulders, green-brown eyes, and an incredibly curvy body. She was also very tall, about five feet and a half, and fit her skin very well.

She smiled slightly, looking over his companions with a comprehension bright in her eyes. When her eyes met his, he thought that he must have died, because he was seeing a heavenly spirit. Then she did the toughest thing that he had ever seen a woman do.

She smirked at him, spreading her smirk to all the knights and Arthur and grabbed a hold of her left hand. It had hung, numb, bloody at the wrist. She then stooped slightly, put her hand between her knees, and pressed them together so that her hand wouldn't move. Still staring at the knights imperiously, she moved her right hand against her shoulder in a swift motion, popping it back into place with a show of force unseen from any other woman in Gawain's life.

She breathed with relief slightly as she straightened slowly. Looking at Arthur, she spoke.

"Arturius Castus?" she asked.

"Who are you, lady?" Arthur asked, slightly shocked by the woman's past actions.

She stared at him impassively.

Damara was unsure of how to introduce herself to Arthur. He was after all, a renowned _roman_ commander and she wasn't exactly sure how her footing was with the roman government. Especially after all that Hana and Kirima had done in the past ten minutes. To hell with it, she thought.

"I am Damara, and these are the last warriors of my former crew" she said, a tinge of bitterness in her tone.

"You're not Woad" a statement, not a question.

"No" she gave no quarter.

"If you're not Woad, then what are you?" he asked.

She straightened even more. "We are the last of the true tribe Rio Zhida of the Amazons (pronounced she-da). We only roam peacefully. Until your soldiers found us" she said.

Arthur considered this slowly.

She spoke again "If we could explain to you in private, it would be much better. We meant you no harm, and we still do not."

Arthur nodded. He motioned for the girls to go through a doorway behind him, but Damara spoke again.

"May I be permitted to do one thing before we speak?" she asked, her emotions hidden now.

Arthur nodded after a moment's consideration.

She spoke an command to Hana in their tongue. Hana looked at her, sorrow and understanding in her eyes. Reaching to her boot, Hana freed one of her reclaimed throwing knives. Bringing it up to her hand, she pressed it to her palm, letting the blood flow. She then passed it to Kirima, who cut herself slightly on the forehead, only enough for a little blood. Kiri passed it to Damara then.

Damara took ahold of the hilt, staring at her friends' blood, remembering her slaughtered crew, five dead, and one missing. All for Rome's conquests. Without a moment's hesitation, she brought the knife to the top of her chest and cut it, letting her blood flow freely onto the blade. Then she looked for the soldier who had ordered her comrades' deaths.

Gawain had been more than slightly stunned when the women had started to cut themselves, with no visible reaction to the pain of the cuts that they self-inflicted. The leader, Damara, looked around, obviously searching for someone.

She then stiffened. She walked slowly over to the once-smug soldier who had announced himself to Arthur. His face had gone white when she had spotted him. She was visibly restraining herself from hitting the man, Gawain could tell. She then threw the bloody knife at his feet, and spun on her heel.

Damara's sorrow overwhelmed her, as did her rage, and she fought to control it all as she went through the door that Arthur had indicated, into a dark hallway….


	4. Explanations and Outbursts

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, our school is dumb and made us go when every other school in the district had a snow day. Curse them.

SpectralLady- all is forgiven. Hakuna Matata ( did I actually just say that?).

Explanations

Damara stalked up the dark stairwell, tears blinding her vision. The loss of her comrades was overwhelming her, and she fought to control her urge to break down and sob right there on a roman stairwell. Roman, I tell you. She reached the top, her tears brimming her eyes. She swiped angrily at them, hating this weakness in front of the romans. Hana and Kiri reached the top of the stairs, tastefully ignoring her eyes. She knew that they were also having a hard time dealing with this, and that they were barely holding it in as well. But she was the one who was crying. She rubbed out the last of her tears, only leaving a little red around her eyes.

Arthur reached the top of the stairs. She looked at him, waiting.

He turned left and walked down a long, torch-lit corridor. "This way" he said, without turning.

The Sarmatians started to coming up the stairs, uncertain after the show of emotion down in the courtyard. Damara turned angrily and followed after Arthur, Hana and Kiri coming behind her.

In front of Damara, Arthur walked into a large hall, with a round table and a brazier in the center. She looked around as she walked in, liking the look of the inviting hall. She smirked at the round table, thinking how lords must feel when they visit.

The Sarmatians had filed into the hall at this time and taken their seats, leaving the girls standing awkwardly near the table. Arthur motioned for them to sit down. Damara glared at him for a second for daring to undermine her, then sat where he had motioned.

She sat stiffly, aware of the tension in the room caused by their presences.

"You need to clean and bind that" a voice said above her. She looked up. The man with the shaved head was looking down at her. He was carrying a basin full of water and several bandage cloths. She looked back up at his face. He didn't appear to be ill-wishing her, and he appeared sincere. He held them out to her.

"Take them. You've already lost fair amount of blood" he said quietly. She took them, nodding her thanks. He returned to his seat without a word, regarding her carefully. None of the knights made mention of this, although they all observed it.

She placed the basin and cloths carefully on the table, watching the water swirl as she set it down. She unfolded the cloths, revealing a long needle and thread for stitches. She grimaced slightly. She looked up.

All the knights were staring at her, even Arthur. The young one regarded her almost with curiosity and at the same time, distaste. The bald man and the one who had given her the cloths sat together, the bald man drinking as if this was a normal situation. The silent one hadn't changed at all, still calculating everything. The curly haired one sat near Arthur, obviously contemplating the three girls. The blond man was staring at her almost as impassively as the silent one was. She looked to Arthur.

He was watching her, considering her actions as she handled the water. He's waiting for a sign that I'm woad, Damara thought with a smile.

"Are you all just going to stare at us, or are you going to ask us any questions?" Damara asked with a slight smirk.

The young one looked taken aback. The curly haired one seemed the same, if slightly angered by her question.

"I will question you after you have attended to your wounds" Arthur said. The man only exhibited signs of almost detachment, completely above any situation.

Damara poured water over her upper arm, wincing slightly at the rush of warm water through her skin. She scrubbed thoroughly at the dried blood surrounding the affected site. She looked up.

"There's no need to wait so long. I can tell you what you want to know while I sew my arm up" Damara stated flatly. She had said "I" specifically so that Hana and Kiri could attend their own wounds while she explained their circumstances. She also had the cut on her chest, and her shoulder had started to ache slightly with all it's reclaimed actions in the past minutes.

"Alright. Who are you and why are you here?" he asked, without hesitation.

"Well, at least you're straightforward" Damara said, grinning slightly as she threaded the needle. Sighing, she looked at him. "Alright, I'll tell you what you want to know" she said, a tired edge cutting into her voice.

Gawain had been fascinated by the woman the moment she had taken her cloak off, and he had been hard pressed to keep this a secret from the other knights. If she was a woad, then it was trouble. He had carefully schooled his features so that as he observed her, it was only with a look that observed, instead of absorbing every feature of her face. She had bantered slightly with Arthur, a sadness emanating from her, filling the room.

"I am Damara" she said. Gawain's heart started to sing. It didn't sound like a woad name at all. This only led away from the bad!

"As I mentioned before, I, nor my companions, are woads" she stated simply, giving Arthur a look that said that he shouldn't judge her in the future, if he valued his life, that is.

"I did not catch your country when you spoke of it then" Arthur stated, making up for the lapse in conversation.

"They're Amazons, Arturius" came a deep voice from another side of the table. There, Tristan sat, unfazed by the fierce banter going back and forth, calmly peeling an apple with his knife. The knights were used to Tristan's interjections, and were completely used to it. The women, young girls really, stared at Tristan, except for Damara, who was now stitching up her wound, a slight grimace in her face.

"He speaks the truth" Damara said, recapturing the girls' attention.

"You have answered my first question. Not my second one" Arthur said, still patient.

"We are here on business of our own. It has nothing to do with you or your knights, let alone your precious Roman Empire. We mean no harm towards you or your knights either, and we don't wish that you would take it so. When we were captured by your romans, we were surprised and unarmed. But your men didn't stop to recognize that, _did they?_" she finished, her tone glacial.

Gawain was shocked at how quickly her voice had changed from explanatory to accusatory, bitterness deeply woven into her voice.

"Lady, if we knights took it that way, it is because when we met you, you had just fought most of the roman guard within the walls, and knocked them out. If you think that we could just accept you as peaceful and caring, then you must think that we are mad" Arthur stated it with conviction in his voice.

Damara had stopped in her ministrations to her arm. She was sitting stock-still, staring at Arthur with disbelief written all over her features. Then, her face changed, as if wiped clean. She leaned forward, towards Arthur. Gawain had the impression of a snake about to strike its prey. The cut on her chest came into view, and he had to swallow in order to control himself.

The blood had long since clotted, and was drying up around the wound. Gawain had been wondering since the girls cut themselves exactly why they had done such a barbaric thing.

Now, Damara was no longer speaking, she was hissing "did you not wonder why we did this? Why we cut ourselves, let our blood flow, and _for a Roman_! We did this because of the comrades that your soldiers killed, without warning. They were unarmed, unthreatening, and had given no instigation except for a stupid dog for the use of poison arrows! Did you think that maybe that was the reason my ladies came out fighting, after we had been tied up for hours, and me with a dislocated shoulder! Why don't you think of that!"

A huge silence filled the room. They looked furious; all of them, and Gawain didn't really fancy the idea of responding to Damara's outburst. Arthur had been prepared to respond to the beginning of it, but even he was shocked into silence.

Arthur was absorbing this information with a sadness, fury, and disappointment all together. Sadness that these women had experienced this at the hands of romans, fury that the romans had done this, and disappointment that good roman soldiers had been affected by the people of this country and their dealings.

Damara stared silently at the roman, willing him to deny it. She would kill him if he did, but she had wanted to kill a roman for a while now. She was surprised by the look of mixed emotions on his face. She had been expecting either denial or a "they were fulfilling their orders" line.

He looked at her slowly, seeming to have aged ten years in the past 30 seconds.

"I had no idea that roman soldiers attacked you without aggravation. I was told that you attacked the soldiers and that you were woads" Arthur's face was turning red with rage as he thought about the lies he had been fed and had accepted. "I had no understanding of the true events that took happened, or that the romans were the instigators of your sorrow" Arthur finished, enraged.

Damara looked back at him, just as tiredly, for she hadn't really been able to sleep in their prison, only blacking out when the pain from her shoulder became too much.

"I wish that I had known this before you ladies had come through the gates. We could have avoided many things with the truth of your situations" he stopped, looking at Damara intently. She could read his look from where she sat.

He asked her silently, what could I possibly do to help you for your pains?

Nothing, really, she answered back, in the same way. Unless, you can bring back the dead.

"I see" Arthur said, causing his knights to look at him with confusion. "Absolutely nothing?"

She shook her head. Then she stopped. Fuck this, she thought, I've heard of these men, I know their fighting reputations, and I still don't know where Ana is. They could help us.

She looked back at Arthur. He was trying to see what she was thinking. All of his knights, except for the tall and silent one, could obviously understand this silent conversation to a degree. The silent one understood the whole thing.

She stared at him. Then she motioned ever so slightly with her head towards the girls on either side of her.

Arthur looked at her, slight confusion clouding his face. It lifted after a short while, and he nodded with his understanding of her request.

She smiled slightly, liking the ability of this famed leader. Even if he was a roman. And not even filthy or lecherous at that.

Gawain looked at the whole situation with sadness and bitter outrage. The unfortunate fate of Damara's comrades was just more proof of the despicability of the Roman Empire. Another reason to want to get away.

He saw his commander looking at Damara with almost the same amount of expression he gave the knights. Almost like affection. Or sympathy.

Arthur bowed his head. He remained that way for a few seconds, thinking things over. Looking up, he stared directly at Damara.

"You can stay here until you have recovered. Then, if you and your comrades so wish, you may leave".

Damara nodded, close to falling asleep.

"Thank you".

Arthur nodded quickly, all business now. "of course. This is the least that can be done. Tristan, Dagonet, and Galahad, you can show the ladies to the rooms Jols has prepared for them".

They nodded, leading the ladies out.

As they left the great hall, Damara thought about the past hour. She had gone from a dirty, wounded prisoner to a guest of a great roman commander. Ah well, such was the life of royalty!

AN- sry I couldn't get this chapter up sooner, school sucks. I love cliffhangers! New chap, ASAP! Different twists, as I said, "haven't decided on pairings yet!"


	5. Adjustments

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of King Arthur , although I wished I owned Tristan and Gawain

To those of you who reviewed immediately, I love you!

Pairings- I'm trying to make you guys guess a little.  heee, I have a slightly large sense of deviousness (mwahaha) so hopefully I can bring out some surprises for you guys

Damara was silent as she was led down a dim hallway by the tall, and equally silent knight. The enormity of her situation was hitting her, again. Most of her crew was dead, the remaining ones were relying on her, and her newfound friend and sister was gone, possibly dead, or back with her people.

Shit, she thought. I completely forgot about Annuska. And considering how she had just found her long lost sister for the first time of her life, her captivity must have affected her hard. Then again she was mostly unconscious for the most of it.

Lost in thought, she didn't notice that the taciturn knight had stopped and was now listening to a thickset servant.

"Oof" she said, blinking stupidly as she looked up at him. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking clearly".

Something like a smirk crossed his face, too quickly for Damara to be sure.

"I'm fine" Turning to the servant, he said "Jols, what is it?"

The servant, Jols, answered steadily, looking at Damara curiously "There aren't any available rooms, or at least clean ones. To clean one, it would take me days, let alone three. The only clean ones in the fort belong to you knights. That's all I'm sayin' Tristan".

Tristan, Damara thought. Nice name.

"Fine Jols. I'll take her back and let Arthur sort it out" the knight said dismissively.

Damara's head was starting to droop from fatigue. The walls and ceiling became blurry as she was escorted back to the hall.

Arthur looked up as they reentered the hall. He had been deep in thought, staring at the empty seats around him.

Damara heard Tristan say something about the rooms and "letting up his". She didn't really understand much. She was mostly asleep on her feet.

"Arthur, look at her. She's almost dead, she's so tired" Tristan said.

"Whose rooms are nearest?" Arthur asked, seeing Damara's condition.

"Gawain's, Lancelot's, and Galahad's" Tristan replied, understanding immediately. A noise at the door interrupted him before he could speak further. There stood Dagonet and Galahad, Hana leaning sleepily on Dagonet's shoulder and Kirima out cold in Galahad's arms. The young knight looked slightly perplexed and embarrassed by his situation. Tristan smirked slightly.

Arthur looked at them for a second, then addressed them "Galahad, you put her in.." he was interrupted by a drowsy voice. Hana spoke again, clearer this time "Her name is Kirima. I'm Hana" she said, her voice thick with sleep.

Arthur nodded, acknowledging her even as she fell back to sleep on Dagonet's shoulder. "Galahad, put Kirima in your room. Don't argue" he said as he saw Galahad's mouth open. "You know that you can find somewhere else to sleep. Dagonet, take Hana, and put her in" he was interrupted again, this time by Dagonet.

"Do you really think it would be a wise idea to put an attractive woman in Lancelot's bed, Arthur?" Dagonet said, sarcasm and knowledge of Lancelot's past combined in his voice.

Arthur looked exasperated. "Fine then, put her in your room. Tristan, put Damara in Gawain's room. You can tell him to stay away from there down at the tavern" Arthur finished, exhausted by the sleeping arrangements he didn't have time for.

Tristan, turning, saw Damara about to fall over, and quickly scooped her up in his arms. She was light, he noticed, but not too light, he thought as she moved in his arms.

Moving fast, he came swiftly to Gawain's door. Kicking it open, he moved across the room and placed Damara gently on the bed. She moved over, sleeping on her stomach and completely giving over into dreams. Tristan walked quietly out of the room, closing the door softly, even though he doubted she would wake up.

Down at the tavern, Gawain was already slightly drunk. Lancelot was just beginning, and Bors wasn't drunk at all, but stuck with one of his many bastards. Tristan smirked.

Gawain had started to shout for a song from Vanora, a girl on his lap missing for once. Tristan thought he looked melancholy, which was entirely unusual for Gawain. He would usually be talking or teasing Galahad, and betting with Lancelot. Tonight he just looked sad. Oh well, Tristan thought, he's going to be even sadder when he finds out that there's a beautiful woman in his bed and he's not allowed to go near her.

Tristan walked over to Gawain. Gawain didn't appear to notice him, but stared blearily at the wall opposite him.

"Gawain" He said.

Gawain didn't respond. Tristan leaned down.

"GAWAIN" he said again, directly into his ear.

Gawain jerked then, looking up.

"oh, trisan," he slurred. Clearly he was further along. His head was going to hurt in the morning. He squinted at Tristan, grinning idiotically.

"Gawain, you need to listen to me" Tristan said slowly, irritated. "Damara is in your room, sleeping. You need to find somewhere else to sleep tonight. Alright?"

Gawain grinned like a child, "Understood" he said.

Tristan shook his head as he walked away. Gawain's mood had changed from melancholy to ecstatic in a matter of seconds. Honestly, he was crazy.

As the evening wore on, Gawain's drunken state was headed steadily south. He had passed out by the time Lancelot finished gambling with some off-duty romans. They were cursing him under their breath. Tristan managed to catch some of it, smiling slightly as he heard the words. And they call themselves pristine Christians, he smirked.

Galahad had arrived a while after Tristan had, settling himself between Gawain and Lancelot. He hadn't gotten as far as Gawain, but then again he never did unless her was rejected by a woman or if he was the subject of the knights' jokes.

Bors came over as Lancelot shoved Gawain, trying to at least wake him up enough to find alternate sleeping arrangements, considering his room wasn't available.

"He's out til' who knows when" Bors said cheerily. "Try luggin' him over your shoulder and dumpin' 'im somewhere". Jols chose that moment to appear, staring at the situation dourly

"I managed to prepare a room for the displaced knights. There's blankets and such, but no bed" Jols said, frowning at Gawain's obviously inebriated state.

"Fine" said Lancelot. "This is certainly a change. Instead of a woman, I'm lugging home a sack of ale" he disappeared into the gloom with a grin. " Oh well buddy, guess there's just no fun for us tonight"

The Next Morning

Gawain awoke slowly, wishing the world to shutup and leave him be. His head was pounding, and he felt sick. He didn't even know where he was. He looked up slowly, risking lightheadedness.

He was in a small, nondescript room with no apparent furniture. He was covered in several thick blankets, and was apparently still fully dressed.

As he was looking around, he noticed two other piles of blankets, meaning he hadn't been alone. Gawain was incredibly irritated, and he only wished to be in his own room where he knew that he had some herbs for hangovers. Making up his mind, he got up, albeit slowly and with much groaning, and had started towards his room.

Damara had awoken that morning to weak British sunlight and a feeling of refreshment. She had been lying on a soft bed, in an obviously male room. Then she remembered all of the sleeping arrangement debacle that had gone on the other night.

She must be in that attractive blond man's room, she though with a smile. Oooh, this was going to be tempting. She started to stare around the room, noticing everything, until a knock on the door disturbed her thoughts. She sighed, rising and opening the door. There stood the squire Jols, whom she remembered from last night.

"My master was wondering if you were wanting of anything" he said almost shy.

She smiled. Thinking, she looked down. And saw the dirty, bloody, and all together tangled mess that she had become.

She looked up again. Jols waited patiently.

"A bath would be lovely" she said, slightly wistful.

"Right away, Lady" he said, bowing and striding down the hall.

Damara had only waited a few minutes when a knock sounded on her door. Opening it, she found men carrying a large tub. She hastily moved out of their way and directed them where to put it.

Honestly, she thought, the man needed to clean. The only place where there was room enough for the tub was almost directly behind the door. Every other place had his armor or a large chest that dominated most of the room.

The men set the tub down, returning quickly with basins of _hot _water, something Damara hadn't had the pleasure of for a long time. The tub was quickly filled, and Damara sighed with relief as she closed the door behind the men, after having thanked them profusely for going to all that effort.

Easing herself out of her bloodstained clothes, she was delighted to discover one of her chests on the floor. There were obvious scratch marks around the lock where the romans had tried to break into it when they had captured the Amazons. Damara sighed, letting the sorrow flow away. Right now she only wanted to relax. She reached down to her discarded clothes, retrieving a key from one of the hidden pockets that she had made herself.

Opening the chest, she found clothes, a few weapons, and some of her herbals. Unrolling a wadded ball of cloth, she found exactly what she was looking for.

"Soap!" she said happily. Soap her mother had bought her when they had been in foreign lands. It had been hot, but the natives bathed regularly, and because of her rank, she had been privy to some of the most wonderful of spices, cloths, and soaps.

This one smelled of a flower called lilies, like her mother's name.

She turned and stood up, walking over to the tub, soap ball in hand. Putting her foot forward, she gingerly stepped into the bath and sat down. The warmth of the water enveloped her, the tub allowing her to stretch out her legs. She sighed. Pure bliss, she thought, as she started lathering up the soap. Soon the bath was covered in bubbles. Giggling she played with them for a little while, washing off the grime as she did. With a sigh, she submerged herself completely.

Gawain opened his door slowly, cursing the light that his room allowed. He had meant to get some kind of drape so that this situation could be avoided, but it was meant for another day. Slowly, he eased himself onto the bed. Why did he always do this? Drink himself to oblivion, always knowing what the consequences would be.

The swirling sound of the water in his room was soothing to him, helping him go to sleep. He closed his eyes drowsily.

And snapped them right back open. Water? Why would there be a sound of water in his room.

Headache pushed aside, Gawain sat up, peering around the room like an owl. There. In the corner. There was a tub, full of water. Why was there a tub, covered in soap suds, in his room. Arthur and Jols knew that Gawain and the rest of the knights bathed only when they had to, when covered in blood after battle.

As Gawain stared at the tub, he also noticed a medium sized chest sitting in the middle of his floor. Whose chest is that? He thought, wondering.

A slightly bewildered "Good morning" reached Gawain's head before he could ponder more. Looking over, he saw the amazon from the day before, Damara.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?" he asked, not too mad. It wasn't everyday when there was a beautiful naked Amazon in your room.

She stuck out her chin at his tone. "Arthur lent it to me, as a host. There weren't any others to stay in. Besides, he said you'd be fine getting another place to sleep".

He stared at her. She stared back, just as unwilling to give in. Their eyes were boring into each others'. Gawain's were starting to burn.

"Do you often interrupt women when they're bathing?" she asked, a slight smirk playing about her lips.

"Do you often bathe in strange mens' rooms?" he shot back.

"Yes, all the time. It's a habit of mine" she answered, straight-faced.

He choked, coughing with laughter. She grinned insolently from her position in the tub.

Gawain moaned, clutching his head as his newly returned headache said hello.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concern suddenly written all over her features.

"Nooo" came the response from the bed.

Damara but her lip. She half wanted to laugh, half wanted to get him something for his head.

"Here let me get you something" she said, starting to rise from the pool, nudity forgotten.

He hadn't.

"No, it's fine, I'll go get something from Jols!" he said, springing up and striding out of the door at the sound of swirling water. This left Damara with a state of almost smugness. She had made him laugh, after all.

Returning her focus to her bath, she remembered her sister, and the events of the past few months...

AN- yay! Fun fun! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter, but I have tests all week. Cheers!


	6. Banter

Alright, here's the deal. Katemary77 wins the grand prize b/c she reviewed, like, 5 minutes after I posted the 5th chapter. Congrats, you are my best reviewer.

Dazzler420 comes in at a close second, making up for it w/ 2 reviews (although they are the same review, hmm, are you trying to scam my fake prizes?)

SprectalLady- you win the prize for sounding the exact same way I think I might have reacted! Sarcasm is appreciated, thank god.

Gawain sighed as Jols' herb tea began to soothe his aching head. It helped it him to focus on things. Things code for the naked amazon in his room. Perhaps no longer naked, but still….

Gawain flexed his fingers, trying to forget the image he had caught on his hasty exit from the room. She had been rising out of the tub covered in soap suds. She was just about to stand up, and BANG! He was out of the room and in the hall, the door banging closed behind him. Since when did he have a chivalrous side?

Since you got drunk and there were little demons dancing inside your head, his common sense told him.

He mused slightly over what might have happened if he had been at all sober, or at least a little less hungover.

At that point, Bors, Dagonet, and Lancelot chose to join him at the Round Table. Jols had decided to lay out breakfast for all of them there, instead of them interrupting his duties by each asking for breakfast individually. It saved him time and wits.

He looked up from his tea to see Lancelot smirking at him.

"What?" he said, rather defensive.

Lancelot grinned even more. "Hmm, well, let's see? Your hair is messed up, not that that's a change or a surprise, you're still wearing the clothes you were wearing last knight, you smiling to yourself, and you're drinking Jols' herbal tea. I'd say you've done something our devout Christian lord wouldn't approve of" he stated, knowledgeable in these departments himself.

"Actually" Gawain said, slightly gruff "I woke up this morning not in my room, hungover, and my head pounding. There's nothing all that glorious in that, now is there?"

Lancelot pursed his lips, trying to understand. "Then what about the woman?" he asked, suspicious.

"What woman?" Gawain said, feigning surprise, as if that hadn't been Lancelot's aim after all.

"Come, come, we all know that you only smile like that when you've had a good night with a gorgeous woman"

"Well, I've seen one, a few actually, but not that that's any of your concern" Gawain said, a secretive smile on his lips.

At that moment, Galahad chose to walk in. Gawain did a double take. Galahad's hair was mussed, he was wearing the same clothes he had been wearing the other night, and he looked smug and in pain at the same time. The same way he had been described by Lancelot.

Lancelot didn't fail to take notice of this either.

"Alright, who are they?" Lancelot demanded.

Galahad stopped in his tracks, staring at him. "What?" he said.

"The women you slept with!" Lancelot near shouted, bursting with curiosity.

"Women?" Bors piped up "I'd say something like a girl. He's not ready for women yet" he chuckled.

Galahad shot him a death glare.

"Well, something happened to these two, and I intend to find out" Lancelot stated, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms.

The three of them were engaged in a silent staring contest, waiting to see who would crack first. They were interrupted by a slight bang from the doorway.

They heard a muffled "Ow" from behind the door, and a stifled giggle.

Kirima and Hana chose that moment to enter, followed a few seconds later Damara, still rubbing her head ruefully. Kirima's face was red from stifled laughter.

Lancelot returned his attention to the two before him. They had both turned a flaming red when the girls had entered.

"Exotic enough for you Galahad?" Lancelot said in a low voice.

"What, too much for you dear?" a voice asked, dripping with sarcasm.

His head shot around, looking for the accuser. Kirima sat on the table, nibbling on a piece of bread. She smirked when she saw his look.

He smiled, all charm now. "No, I just thought the innocent one over there isn't ready to play with children from out of the playpen" He said, stinging back.

She lifted her eyebrows. "Oh really? He seemed experienced last night. I found him _quite _enjoyable" she said, almost absentmindedly.

Bors started coughing, covering his laughter. Gawain looked at Galahad. His friend looked as though his head was about to set on fire, he was blushing so hard.

Lancelot had sunk down into his seat, muttering something about "since when did _he _get girls…"

Kirima looked at him, laughing slightly. She said something to Damara and Hana, obviously an insult. Galahad could be light beacon, if this kept up for much longer. Red would make a stunning light in the dark.

Damara had been slightly on edge ever since she had reevaluated how her conversation with Gawain had gone during her bath. She had turned as red as Galahad was now, realizing that she had been close to revealing her naked body when she tried to help. He had unfortunately remembered that as well, judging by the look he had given her when she had come in.

Then again, she thought, it was _slightly _her own fault. She had found a favorite outfit of hers, light brown leather pants and top, with a braided belt. She couldn't carry her mace all that well with this outfit, but then again this outfit wasn't meant for heavy battle. More along the lines of twisting men around her finger. Just the way she had at court.

Damara snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Kirima speaking to the handsome womanizer.

_Lancelot_, she remembered. He was going to be trouble.

As she listened to their conversation, she was ready to burst out laughing.

Then Kiri had shouted across the table to her, in their language.

"Looks like someone needs a little timeout," she said, with a laugh. "Maybe he could use some of your charms, Damita".

She looked at her friend. Laughing, she replied, with a smile "I've told you never to call me 'Little noble lady' ever again. If you do, you're kissing Lancelot. Your other choice would be torture by roman ceremony"

Hana spluttered, half-spraying the food in her mouth across her hand. She put her head under the table and started laughing.

Sulking, Kiri slouched in her seat, looking not unlike Galahad and Lancelot. She muttered to herself, now exactly like Lancelot. The two could be long-lost siblings.

The knights were looking at the girls with varying degrees of confusion and curiosity. Tristan just observed it all from his vantage point with an appearance of detachment.

Damara smiled slightly, and helped herself to a piece of bread and some water from the table. Unsheathing a dagger at her waist, she leaned over the table and snagged some of the still-sulking Lancelot's cheese and ham while he still had his head down.

Grinning, she stuck the impaled food straight into her mouth just as Lancelot looked up at the sound of Bors' laughter.

"What?" he said, still moody.

"You should watch your food more carefully" said Bors, chuckling.

Arthur chose to make his appearance at that moment, looking around the room. Kiri and Lancelot obviously sulking, Galahad still blushing, and Bors, Dagonet and Tristan smirking.

He looked at Damara. She shrugged, still chewing Lancelot's food.

"Arthur, you should have been here two minutes ago" Gawain said, in a voice filled with mirth.

"And why is that Gawain?" Arthur said dryly. He was prepared for something bawdy already.

"Because apparently our little Galahad has grown up quite more than we thought he had" Gawain said. Galahad's blush deepened.

Arthur's eyebrows went up at this.

"Oh really? How did you learn of this?" he said.

"Because rumor has it that Galahad had the company of a certain woman last night" Lancelot said. Bors was choking with his laughter now. Galahad's head could definitely serve as a coastline beacon now. Gawain hadn't known that red had so many shades to it.

He laughed, slightly red himself at the thought of his encounter with Damara in his room. He blushed, his laughter subsiding as he looked up. Everyone around the table was staring at him and his newly refound blush. Even Arthur was staring at him skeptically.

"What?" he said, itching to get out of the spotlight.

"You're blushing as much as our friend Galahad over here" Lancelot said, indicating Galahad with a nod of his head.

"What of it?" he said defensively.

Lancelot's grin grew wider.

"Well, if Galahad's blushing this badly for no reason, why are you?" he asked, sniffing for a story.

"Maybe I don't have a reason either" Gawain said, desperate for an escape. Wrong answer for one though.

"I think you do" Lancelot said knowingly.

"I do too" Bors said suddenly, turning everyone's attention. Galahad's blush had lessened when the attention had turned to Gawain, and now he was sitting back in his chair, listening avidly to the conversation.

"Yes, tell us this story" came a female voice. They all shifted again. Kirima was sitting up, staring intently at Gawain with a barely disguised smirk on her face.

"We're all _dying_ to know" Kirima said.

By now Hana had sat up and she was staring at Gawain also with a choked smile on her face that suggested that she was trying hard not to laugh.

Gawain looked around, desperate for an escape to this confrontation. All were staring at him avidly, waiting for an response to his apparently guilty appearance. Or so it had seemed.

"Yes, tell us of your mystery woman" said a voice with a slight accent. Damara was leaning back in her chair now, cleaning her nails with her dagger. She looked up at him, the outer corner of her lips turned up.

"From your blush, it seems that you had even more fun than Galahad" she said.

Gawain had to strongly resist the urge to let his mouth hang wide open. She knew exactly why he wasn't speaking, and yet she was teasing him about what had happened. Alright, if she wanted to play like that, she was gonna get it.

"Well, after I was unceremoniously dumped into that lovely room Jols found for us, I woke up, and went wandering for breakfast" he started, sneaking a peek at Damara's face. She had suddenly turned to color of a very ripe apple.

"While I was wandering, I came across my bedroom. Going inside I sat down and was about to fall back asleep when I heard-" Damara cut him off quickly.

"Arthur, could you show us where the stables are. We need to tend to our mounts, right ladies?" She said quickly, ending with a threatening tone, and looking at Kirima and Hana.

Hana was sitting straight up in her chair. Her struggle to not laugh was completely evident on her face. Kirima had stuffed a pastry into her mouth so that she wouldn't have to reply.

Arthur lifted an eyebrow, amused by their antics.

"If you would follow me then, Lady Damara" he said, motioning to the door.

Damara stood up, followed by Hana and Kiri, who had bowed their heads, their shoulders shaking with laughter. They followed her slowly out the door.

Arthur turned to the knights after Damara's hasty exit. Looking at them skeptically, he sighed.

"None of you are to touch the ladies without their express permission, do you understand? They aren't tavern wenches or village girls, so try to restrain yourselves" he said defeatedly.

Lancelot stood up, strolling towards the door.

"Well, Arthur, but I can restrain myself, but I don't know about Gawain and Galahad. Seems they've already gotten to know the 'ladies'" he said with a grin, walking out of the room.

"I hate it when he does that" Gawain said moodily, settling back into his chair.

A/N- sorry it took sooooo long to get this one out. School is tough, and I have the play coming up. I hate the school year in general. And to top it off, my favorite teacher got laid off. What a lovely year I'm having


	7. Home

I'm giving you guys a longer chapter 'cause I'm going to be in France on my school trip for two weeks, so this is a "forgive me" in advance.

Vivian Alexandra is one of my new favorite reviewers (yay for her one o'clock review!)and yes, I do try for humor, good to know it's appreciated.

A/N- for those who have my story on alert I have only one thing to say- I know you're out there. It's no use to hide any longer. Just give in to your urges and review. It makes me happier that way. God, I sound like _such_ a stalker. ewww.

Disclaimer- yes, yes, we know, just rub it in. I OWN NONE OF THE KA PPL/CHARACTERS AND I NEVER WILL! (unless Joel Edgerton magically dumps his gf and waits for our relationship to actually be legal) sigh

Damara had half walked, half ran, down the halls until she had finally realized that Arthur was a) not leading her, and b) not behind her. She looked around, seeing a few open window spaces. Walking over, she looked down, seeing a clump of roman style roofs. At the sound of neighing, she grinned. She had not only managed to get out of that hall with some former shreds of her dignity, but she had also managed to find her way to the stables.

Looking around the hallway, she couldn't find any apparent stairwell. She looked down at the roof. It wasn't _so_ far, she thought, and the roof didn't look too far. Besides, there was a gigantic pile of hay to the side if she fell to hard and rolled off. Hearing voices, she spun quickly. Hana and Kiri had appeared at the end of the hallway, chatting in low voices. Seeing her at the window, they stopped.

"Damara, what the _hell_ are you doing?" Hana asked in a serious voice. She looked uneasy.

Damara grinned. "I'm getting where I'm going. I am only a playful αέρας after all" she said, mischievously (A/N- that weird word is Greek for wind).

"Don't you even think about it Damara!" shrieked Kiri, "This is not what you're –" Damara didn't hear the rest. She had already heaved herself up through the window and out.

Gawain had exited the hall soon after the Amazon women, and if he wasn't a Sarmatian knight, it almost could have been called scurrying. Bors was after gossip, plain and simple, and Gawain was not about to give it to him.

He had simply grabbed some food and walked out. He went through some corridors, quickly choosing a destination in his mind. Walking down a stairwell, he munched on a piece of bread and cheese. Thinking back to earlier, he couldn't help but imagine what would have happened if he had stayed in his room when she had tried to rise from the tub. He could see every insinuation of her body in her clothes when she had walked into the hall that morning, and it made him simultaneously want to tear her clothes off and ravage her and at the same time, it made him want to scold her and cover her up in a thick wool blanket. She was driving him crazy with every action she made, and she had only been at the fort for less than a day.

Musing on this new development, he didn't see Damara poke her head out the window and look at the stables that he was now walking past. He did however hear Kirima's shouts.

Looking up, his mouth dropped open just as Damara shot out of the window. What the hell was she thinking! He stood, halted by incredulity at what the insane woman was doing.

Damara opened her mouth in a yell as she fell, aiming for the soft, thankfully high mound of hay. She saw Gawain standing a few feet from it. She was glad that she could shock him.

She hit the hay, falling swiftly into the thick depths of it. Crap, she thought, now my hair will be covered in hay. At least she still had her old skills.

Thrashing her way out of the pile, she struggled with the overpowering strands. She reached out for a handhold, anything to keep her afloat.

Suddenly, a hand snaked into the confusion of the hay and grabbed her wrist.

Damara looked up, surprised. It had better **not** be a stupid roman soldier looking for some fun, she thought grimly. She reached down and gripped a hidden dagger fastened to the inside of her thigh.

The hand gripped tighter as its owner felt her draw back a little for her dagger. Damara was suddenly yanked forward, straight up against what felt like a solid wall of muscle.

She braced her fingers against what must have be the persons chest and found tangled blond hair twisted into her fingers. Looking up, she came face to face with a not-so-happy Gawain.

"What the _hell_ were you thinking?" he asked in disbelief. "Are you insane?".

She grinned.

"You could have been injured. Hell, you already _are _injured!" he said.

"And why are you getting so worked up about it?" she said, raising her eyebrow.

He sputtered, looking for an answer. He gazed around, for an excuse. His chin came up. _He _lived here, not her. Why was he looking for an excuse? She should be the one looking for an excuse. He looked back down at his chest, where she was still braced with her fingers intertwined in his hair.

She was smirking at him.

_That's it_, he thought, let's see how well she plays _this_ game.

Moving his hands from the position they had caught her in, he slid them over her sides, down to her waist. Her eyes widened.

"Well, I don't know", he said slowly, "maybe it's because there was a beautiful woman bathing in my room this morning, and maybe, just maybe, I wish to see her in that position again" he said, savoring her expression.

She had gone from shocked as his hands roamed her body, then to infuriated, and finally to shy. She had blushed furiously when he had spoken of the morning. He was enjoying the sensation of her body pressed up against him.

Damara was stunned. Men didn't usually respond like that to her teasing. They usually became infuriated, or they made up some ridiculous excuse for their actions. But the knight had decided to play her game. _Oooh, he was gonna get it now,_ Damara thought. Then he'd touched her sides, and she promptly forgot what she was so mad about. Why was she even mad? She was snuggled up to a handsome man's chest. A blond, tall one at that. With very toned muscles. Damara really couldn't see a negative side to this.

Hmm, no, she decided, He doesn't deserve _all_ my attentions,_ just yet_.

"Well, that's just _too bad_ for you then isn't it?" she said, sweetly with a hint of acid in her voice "because it won't be happening ever again". She shoved him against his chest, throwing him off balance and off her.

She smiled faultlessly at him as she swept past him towards the door of the stables. He was left standing looking at her with a quizzical look on his face. As she went through the doorway, his face broke into a devious grin. Spinning on his heel, he walked off towards his quarters.

Damara entered the stables with mixed feelings of regret and elation. Elation that she'd bested his wit, and regret that she had bested him, and felt obligated ( by her own stupid instincts for flirtation) to end the conversation with the last word.

Oh well, she thought. At least now she could make sure her horses were here.

She would bet her own kalindi dress from her sixteenth birthday that the Romans had taken their horses for auxiliary purposes.

Yeah, she heard a voice in her head say, because they can't even take care of their own friggin' mounts. Poor things.

Damara shook her head, laughing at herself. Looking up, she slowly started down the aisle of the barn. Looking back and forth, she scanned the stalls for her horse. Walking down, the long aisle, despair grew heavier and heavier in her heart as the amount of stalls shrank and still her horse was not there. She gritted her teeth and kept moving.

Her worry overwhelmed her as she reached the end of the barn. Hana's, Kiri's, and her horse were nowhere in sight and she didn't know where any other stables where. Sighing loudly, she leaned back against the wall.

A loud neigh sounded behind the wall, striking the sadness from Damara's heart. She turned, her hands probing the wall for the latch she knew she had missed. She should have known, Romans always had possession issues.

Finding the thick latch hidden in the shadows, she grasped it tightly and tugged as hard as she could. The metal made a thick popping sound as it broke off in her hand. Dropping it impatiently, she grabbed for the thin sliver of light that had appeared with her reckless hunt for her horse. Sliding the heavy wood door, she came across another whole side of the barn she hadn't known existed.

Her face filled with light as she saw a gigantic head poke itself out of a stall. The stallion whickered softly, saying hello.

She walked over to him slowly, happy that the colossal horse was still near her.

"Magnus, what have you been up to, eh? She said softly to him, cupping his velvety muzzle in her hands. He nibbled at them, looking for food.

She laughed, looking him over. His unique coat was shining and clear, without a sign of blemish, dirt or maltreatment upon it. He was still gigantic, and in good health too.

Magnus snorted at her, blowing a little saliva at her after having finished his search for treats and having found none.

"Oh, so that's the thanks I get for coming to look for you, huh?" she said, looking at her now gooey overtunic.

A loud whinny turned her head. Eight other heads had poked themselves out of their stalls in response to her familiar voice. Hana's Shadow, Kirima's Wit, and her other horse, Hippolyta, were closer to her. Beyond them were the horses of her comrades, the ones whose remains were now scattered to the winds, although not in the way they would have wanted them. Tears welled up in her eyes.

She turned her head down to Magnus, putting her forehead against his velvety head. Sobbing quietly, she sniffed, and looked at Magnus as he nudged against her head. His coat had always been a problem while out on trips. It was also one of the reasons she had taken to him as soon as she had seen him. The horse-raiser who sold him to her had called him a "leopard", apparently some kind of cat in faraway lands.

He certainly didn't _look_ like a cat, she thought, with a smile. His coat was white, with light golden brown spots all over. He also had to be one of the more gargantuan horses that she had ever seen.

Hippolyta was a different story entirely. She was a roan mare bred from the royal stables, completely captivating, at least in Damara's mind. She was also related to the horse Damara had brought to Briton for Annuska.

Damara sighed, closing her eyes. She hadn't thought fully on Damara since she had been in the claustrophobic prison that roman had put her in with Kiri and Hana. Now her mind turned to the sister whose location she again did not know.

Damara had been born part of the royal house of the extensive Amazon Empire, or at least what was left of it. Her mother ruled alone on the throne for years, which had made Damara ask frequently why didn't she have a daddy like the peasant girls?

Her mother had always said that her daddy had had to go away a long time ago, before Damara was even born. Her mother always looked sad after that, staring out over the ocean from her throne.

Damara had grown up in her mothers and aunts courts, taking tours to see the cavalry, and army. At thirteen, she was permitted to dress as a lady of the court, and to actually appear at court. Her mother told her later that she had immediately received proposals for her marriage, but her mother had scoffed at them, saying that filthy roman habits of taking child brides was not looked upon favorably in her court.

She had routinely trained in swordplay, knife fighting, and something her mother called martial arts since she was six. Damara had learned very early on how to defend and take care of herself. Oftentimes, her mother sent her out to provincial towns to help healers attend the ill, in order for Damara to understand sickness. She had learned how to dance, how to read and write, and how to speak in several languages, including what her mother called "pig language"(latin). She had even learned a language called Gaelic, a tongue her mother said would serve her well. Damara had never met anyone besides her mother and her teacher, Cuckoo, who knew Gaelic.

She had grown up with Hana, Kirima, Nissa, Dolara, Beofre, Lucia, and Qatara, all playing together. When she had started training at six, they had been training for two years already, learning how to protect their monarch. They had lived, eaten, breathed, together. Now only Hana and Kiri were still alive with her.

At sixteen, she performed the kalindi dance for the celebration of summer. After that, her mother had had to beat off her suitors with a stick. Literally, Damara had almost been accosted by a repeatedly refused suitor who had gone mad with his "love". Damara had already tossed him in a fountain by the time her mother arrived on the scene, just to see the insane man go at Damara again. Her mother, Lillithia, had grabbed a wooden sword from the mistress at arms and had started bashing him on the head with it. He finally understood the word "no" when he woke up the next morning with a concussion.

However, she had not spent her early years chasing away from bad suitors. She had learned from the example her mother had set for her, and she learned from the situations around her. Until the day she was no longer around them, but in them.

A few weeks after her nineteenth birthday, Lillithia had started to get snappish with Damara, withdrawing into her private chambers and allowing no one to see her. Finally, after days of solitude, Damara was summoned to her mother's chambers. There, Lillithia finally told Damara about why all the other children had fathers.

When Lillithia had been young, the heir to the throne, an envoy had come from the Britons to the Amazon court. They were requesting peace, and a possible treaty for goods between the two countries. All this was done under the nose of Rome.

In her mother's personal library, she was told of Arden, a young woad possessed of a fiery passion for learning, and knowledge of all things. Lillithia was High Princess, and had to meet every day with the ambassadors. She told her daughter how she had been fascinated by their choice of dress, and had wanted to learn more. One day, in the palace library, she had stumbled upon a woad looking at a book. He couldn't understand the greek letters, and was trying to figure out what they meant. Peeping around a corner, Lillithia had been captivated by his want to learn.

Damara sighed. It was easy to think of it now, but back then it had been such a hard tale to accept.

Lillithia had come out and asked if he wanted to learn how to read her language. He had not been surprised by her sudden appearance, although she thought she had been fairly quiet when she had been watching him. He had accepted her request.

Lillithia began to teach the woad how to read the languages of her world, and in return, he had taught her his. They had also exchanged the knowledge of their countrys' fighting tactics, practicing different techniques with each other.

Eventually, the envoy left, leaving Arden at the court at his request to stay. He lived there for two years, spending almost all of his time with Lillithia. And then everything happened at once.

There was a feast to celebrate the new year, and Lillithia had celebrated with Arden. Before she knew it, she had woken up in bed with him the next morning. Both shocked at what they had done, Lillithia forced herself to go before the High Queen and ask for forgiveness. Although this act brought shame upon her, Lillithia had never been happier in her life. She had loved Arden, with a love shelved in the distant reaches of her heart, since she had seen him trying to read in the library. He had spoken the same words to her the night of their joy, and she had blossomed with elation over this newfound fact.

Seeing their love, the High Queen had given them permission to marry, with Arden as Lillithia's consort.

Lillithia thought she was in heaven, no more so than when she found she was pregnant. Arden was ecstatic. After nine months, Annuska came into the world, to the sound of her mother's curses upon her father for being a man. She forgave him when she saw Annuska for the first time.

Her mother had told her that Annuska would be twenty one now, considering that Damara had just turned nineteen.

I have a sister. Damara had been confused. "Why is she not here now?" She had asked her mother.

Her mother sighed, looking defeated.

"Well, we lived together, until Annuska was one year old. Then the High Queen died, leaving me as heir. I ascended to the throne, with a half woad child and a woad husband. The Roman ambassadors didn't like that. They had wanted me married off to some sadistic lord who would lock me away in the country and make me atone for my "sins".

They sent messengers to Rome, and to the Emperor. He sent a message back demanding that his royal cousin submit to his wishes and marry a Roman. I worried over this for many nights, before sending my reply" Lillithia said slowly, woefully.

"How did you respond mother?" Damara asked, anxious for the story.

"I told the Emperor that if he did not accept my consort, he did not need to expect our friendship" she said, a slight smile on her lips.

"That's _all_?" Damara said, unbelieving. She knew many Romans, and she did not especially like a single one of them.

"No" he mother said, "I also told him we would ally with the Huns and take over Sarmatia, then march on Rome".

"Oh" was all Damara could muster.

"But that had spooked both me and your father. We were now slightly worried about the state of affairs around us, but we stuck through it. But something else happened".

"What?" Damara said, entranced.

"Right after the debacle with Rome, Arden received a message from his brother, Merlin. He told of the Roman oppression of Britons, in their very own country, and how he needed his brother's aid in order to fight them." Lillithia sighed. "He was torn, just as I had been at Rome's request. He had been distant for only a few days until another message came from Merlin. In it, Merlin told Arden that their younger sisters had been sold into slavery by the Romans after their village had been attacked while Merlin had been out on a raid. Merlin sounded heartbroken at these news, and Arden was struck just as hard."

A tear ran down Lillithia's face as she spoke these words now.

"Then pressure started from Rome about whether our marriage had been a true marriage. They didn't believe that Annuska was a legitimate heir, not to mention the fact that she was female. The Romans had become sick of women being in charge of one of their allies, although our culture is based upon women in power. They wanted to put a man on the throne, and they thought that they could foist a roman prince on me."

"What did you do, Mother?" said Damara softly.

"At first, I just let your father do as he would, leaving the decision to him. He was a very fair man." She said, another slim smile on her face at the thought of Damara's father. Then she looked at Damara. Her look turned serious again.

"Then Annuska was attacked."

Damara's eyes had turned the size of dinner plates.

"It was in her nursery one night. Mercenaries came and tried to kill her. A small, defenseless baby, and they tried to kill her. However, she had started crying before they even made it inside, and was surrounded by a dozen guards. They managed to get a mercenary alive. I myself interrogated the woman, and found that she had been sent from a Roman lord, who wished the Emperor to bestow his son the title of heir to our tribe. He wanted the lands that our country exists of. After that, I told Arden what I wanted him to do." She said, brokenhearted.

Tears were now coursing slowly down Damara's cheeks as well.

Lillithia continued "So I told your father to go aid his brother in revenge of his sisters, and to take Annuska with him, for she would be safer with him than she would be with me. After he left, I found myself pregnant, with you. I tried to reach him, but my messenger returned telling me that the Romans had cut off any kind of contact to woads beyond battles and skirmishes. The Romans only want to conquer Briton now, as they did then. I was unable to tell your father of you, as I have been unable to for nineteen years. It has hurt me more than you can imagine, to not share your life with him, or to not be able to share Annuska's growth as well. But I have endure for yours, and Annuska's sake." Lillithia finished, satisfied.

Damara sat on the lounge opposite her, trying to absorb all the information her mother had just given her. As her mother stared at her, a thought occurred to Damara.

"How did you keep me safe when you knew the Romans would want me dead?" she asked.

Her mother grinned.

"I showed them just what would happen to them if they tried to hurt a child of mine ever again." Lillithia said with a smug tone in her voice.

"Mama, _what did you do?_" Damara asked, suspicious at her mother's self-satisfied attitude.

"I had a… special detail sent to them. I ordered the leader, your aunt Anna, to show the lords and commanders just _how much_ they would lose if they continued with their efforts to eradicate my children from the earth." She said, her grin completely out in the open now.

"I repeat, WHAT DID YOU DO MOTHER?" Damara said, almost grinning herself.

"I had Anna threaten to castrate them and convince their serfs to rise up against them" Lillithia said quickly, examining her fingernails as if they were more important than anything else in the world.

Damara sat, flabbergasted at her mother's audacity. "But, but, before…" she said weakly, grasping for anything.

"Before what, darling?"

Damara straightened her mind out. "Before, when they threatened Da, you said you were so worried about him, but with me, you just sent Aunt Anna. Why-"

"Damara, when they threaten your man, you worry. When they threaten your baby, you send detail squads to make sure that they know their error. You'll understand one day" Lillithia said with a smile.

Damara shook her head. She had spent the rest of the day on that lounge, thinking about her father and the sister she had never known. Lillithia had looked at her, smiling in that faraway tendency she had developed lately. Damara now knew that it was because she was thinking of Arden and Annuska.

For the next few months, Damara spoke with her mother often of their Woad family. Damara abounded with questions, and Lillithia supplied them with answers as best she could. Until the fall.

Damara had been out riding with Hana, chatting about their practice tomorrow. Shouts from the palace wall had drawn her attention. She and Hana had hastened their pace, worried about a possible threat from some marauding bandits of late. But as she neared the wall, she could tell that this was not about bandits. Her old nurse and tutor, Cuckoo, was out, staring at her with grief.

"It is your mother" she said, tears coursing their way down her cheeks.

"What is wrong with my mother?" Damara had demanded, trying to tear her way through the crowd. She threw people willy nilly, oblivious to all others until Hana appeared in front of her. Damara attacked her trying to get past. They fought, kicking and punching, until Hana was backed up against a wall. Damara was told later that she had fought with the strength of the warrior sorceresses of old, with no heed for others. She was about to descend on Hana when her air supply was cut off.

Damara remembered Hana's eyes appearing before her, beseeching her. Damara had stopped, looking at her childhood friend. She stepped back, after Hana loosened her grip on Damara's throat.

"Mara," Hana said slowly. Damara looked at her mutely.

"Your Ladyship?" came Cuckoo's more timid voice.

"How is my mother ill?" Damara said cautiously.

Cuckoo came around and stood in front of her. She started, cautiously.

"She is…" She paused, closing her eyes. She breathed, in and out, deeply. Opening her eyes, she looked straight at Damara. "She is dying".

Damara breathed deeply against Magnus' cheek. He snorted slightly at her, chewing on a piece of hay he'd liberated from his stall. She still remembered every detail of that day, going up to her mother's room, sitting by her bed and receiving her last wishes. It had been one of the hardest things Damara had ever had to do.

Her mother had asked her to seek out her sister, and tell her of her heritage, or at least teach it to her properly. If her father was still alive, Lillithia had said, send him all my love and my promise of forever to him. Damara had cried then, quietly, not interrupting her mother's commands. Lillithia had sighed, and wiped away her daughter's tears.

Do no weep for me, darling, she had said. I go to our ancestors, and they will embrace me. I hope only for you to meet your sister, your father, if he is alive, and to love a man as I loved your father.

With that, Lillithia had sighed, and still smiling at her daughter, had laid back against the pillows of her bed. She closed her eyes, her breathing slowed. Damara had watched as her chest ceased to fall.

At that point, Damara broke for the first time in her life. She collapsed to the floor and sobbed next to her mother's deathbed. Then, straightening her shoulders, she rose and went to the throne room. She spoke the dreaded words "The Queen is dead" to the hushed court, and went to her chambers, to grieve. Four weeks later, she had left, leaving her cousin as Queen in her place. Her cousin was really serving as regent, but Damara had had a strange sensation that she would not be returning to the Amazons soon. She had brought gifts, leaving orders for a small convoy to set out a year after she did, to bear gifts for her sister. She had been determined to find her within a year, at least. She had brought only her horses, gifts for Annuska, and her friends. And now she only had so many of those things.

Damara stroked Magnus' face slowly, savoring the feel of his velvety jaw. He shook his head, jarring her grip on his face. Sighing, she looked at him. He nibbled at her tunic again. Smiling softly, she gazed up and around her, savoring the memory of her mother. Lillithia had laughed when she had first seen her daughter ride into the keep on a spotted white horse. His gentle nature had won her over in the end though. She had even bred him with a few of her mares, trying to see what a coat of his would make for offspring. She had been delighted with the foals, many spotted. Damara had even started to train one, until her mother's death halted all fun exercises.

Damara snorted. Her mother had been a true softie at heart.

"I thought horses snorted, not Amazons" came an amused voice from one end of the barn.

Damara whirled around, and upon seeing Gawain, snorted again.

Putting her hands on her hips, she replied "Why wouldn't I snort if there are men like you as possible husbands in the world. Although I highly doubt that you even put yourself in a 'Possible Husband' category." She sniffed, still a little watery from her weeping.

Gawain's expression changed from teasing and light to serious and concerned in one breath.

"Have you been crying? Why have you been crying?" He said, walking towards her.

"_That_ is none of your business!" Damara said, nervous at his concern.

"Well, maybe it is, or maybe it isn't. But then again, you _were_ naked in my room this morning, if I kept you there it might have to be my concern."

Damara half laughed, still backing up. He was still advancing on her, keeping the distance between them even. Damara was getting more and more nervous. Then she hit the barn wall at the end of the aisle.

It did _not_ improve her state.

Before she had a chance to react, Gawain had her pinned to the wall, with his arms out to the side to block her escape.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "It is _not_ a wise idea to trap an Amazon against a barn wall. You might lose something valuable to you" she said.

"Oh, really, something like my life?" he asked, teasing in a serious manner, more intense than before.

She stared back just as intensely.

"No" she said. "Like your manhood".

His mouth dropped open. His arms were also less braced on the wall. Damara saw the opening and took her chance. Ducking under his arm, she dove for the door and was gone, leaving him staring after her in shock and amusement.

A/N- I know the explanation of Damara's dad is cheesy. I was having a pathetic moment, what can I say. But still, REALLY LONG CHAPTER!


	8. good 'ol Roman shaming fun

Ok, I know, evil author. I stopped writing waaayy too long ago and then I just got heavily sidetracked. Bad author, bad. Eww, that sounds weird.

_LOVED_ Vivian alexandra's reaction to her status as new fav reviewer. Got some chuckles, yes I just said chuckles

C_hucckkklessss……….._

Alright, stopping now.

_Chucckkleessss….._

SHUTUP!

Oh god, I need help.

Disclaimer- yes, we know the drill, no ownage of the kingege. Arthurege. Tristanege. Whatever and a cow.

All I have to say- "Manhood"

After running away from Gawain after her threat against his manhood (which she might fulfill if he kept pinning her to walls), Damara managed to avoid the attractive young knight for most of the day.

It had _not _been easy.

He had managed to at least show up in the vicinity of where she was, if not within five feet of her. She had been forced to use all the thieving skills that Kiri had taught her as a joke a while back. She knew Kirima hadn't been joking, however she approached teaching her princess, it had to be serious. Kirima was after all an assigned protector to the ruler of her nation.

Damara was now sitting in a gigantic tree by the wall. It was the only tree by this part of the wall, with thick foliage, and Damara's hope was that Gawain would hopefully not find her. She didn't have much options left if he did.

_You wouldn't mind it if he did, though, wouldn't you?_, her mind said.

"Shutup brain" she said irritably.

_Haha, just admit I'm right._

"I'm going mad", Damara said with a sigh. "Fantastic".

She cut off the conversation between her rational self and her insane self before she started to accept any _really_ bad ideas that she just might enjoy.

"Ok, now I really am going mad" Damara said to herself. She sighed, and leaned back against the tree trunk at her back.

Squinting, she peered out through the foliage at the wall next to her. Roman soldiers were on it, surveying the ground.

_Ha,_ she thought with a smirk, _they couldn't see a real threat if it hit them in the face._

"Well, I hope they could, considering that they're my men" came a deep voice from below her.

_Shit._

Damara silently cursed at her bad luck. Or maybe not so bad, considering that Arthur was a leader just the same as she was.

She looked down.

Arthur was examining her position in the tree with an amused, curious stare. He sat well on his charger, she would give him that. She knew that she did look odd, perched on a gigantic tree branch in leather pants, a linen shirt, and leather vest.

She grimaced.

"Did I actually say that aloud?" she said sheepishly. The last person she would want to hear something like that would be the commander of the fort.

"Yes you did, Lady, and I don't believe that they would appreciate hearing you say that" he said, not without a hint of disdain.

Damara opened her mouth to respond in kind, but he apparently wasn't finished.

"However, my knights would appreciate that" he said with a smile.

She stared at the commander for a few moments, and then chuckled. She was surprised. The man had a sense of humor.

His grin widened at her laughs. He held up his hand.

"Come down" he said, "I would like to speak to you".

She looked down. He had Magnus standing placidly next to his own horse. Her odd-looking horse was chewing on a piece of apple very contentedly. Too contentedly for her opinion. She had trained him to only let people she led to him approach him alone.

She hopped down onto a branch above his head, then down to the ground in front of Magnus. He snorted slightly at her fast movements.

"You deserved that and you know it" she said to his appearance of surprise. Grabbing his neck, she hauled herself quickly up into the saddle. Her shoulder was still a little sore from her overenthusiastic show of fixing it. It had been worth seeing the knights' faces when she did it though.

Having grabbed the reins and adjusted her seat on the gigantic stallion, she looked to Arthur.

"Lead on, Commander" she said, more than slightly formal.

He acknowledged her with a grave nod, a corner of his mouth quirked at the memory of her talking to her horse just moments ago.

Arthur nudged his horse out along the dirt road along the inner wall. Before he could say anything, she was right alongside of him on the road.

As they settled into a comfortable pace, Damara turned her head to Arthur.

"So, you wished to discuss something with me?" she said in a dignified tone.

"Yes", he said, staring at her just as levelly "You have been accepted as guests at Hadrian's wall, but we do not know your intentions, or why exactly you have come to Britain. As I am the commander of this outpost, I need to know in order to be able to accept you and your charges". He stated this as if Damara was just going to have to be entirely trusting in him and reticent to all of his orders.

"Well, then, aren't you just straight to the point" Damara said, a not a bit taken aback. She had been expecting this. It had been bound to come sooner of later.

"Milady, I need to know this, and if you believe that not telling me your mission is what you believe needs to be done, then I believe that you can only stay at Hadrian's wall for the duration of the night. After that, you must find lodgings somewhere else, Milady".

"Well, if you feel the need to know, I was searching for something that I…lost. Something I lost a long time ago, something that I need to locate soon." Damara said, trying to not think upon the fact that her sister had been with them for only a fortnight when the Romans had burst in upon them.

"Milady, I thought you said that _I _was the one who was not so straightforward." Arthur said with a slight grin.

Damara did not smile back.

"Commander" she said in a cold, rigid tone, "This is a matter to be dealt with only by me, an emissary of the Amazon nation. I cannot permit myself to divulge any part of my mission to a party outside that of the Amazon nation". She paused for breath, looking Arthur straight in the eye as she gathered her reins.

"Especially not to a Roman".

With that she turned Magnus and dug her heels into his sides, making him jump out into a fast paced canter, carrying Damara away from the stunned and confused Commander Arturius.

Magnus had obviously not been exercised well enough while under the Romans' hands. He was full of energy, so Damara decided to let him have his head. She let go of her incredibly tight grip of the reins, allowing Magnus to really stretch out and run to his heart's content. Hooves pounding the dirt, they picked up speed until Damara felt as though she was flying. She passed Roman soldiers marching in formation, not to sorry when Magnus sprayed them with mud he stirred up under his hooves.

Their indignant cries of outrage and sputterings gave Damara a whole new look on the day. Everything seemed brighter now, better. Laughing, she encouraged Magnus to even greater speeds and sped off along the roadway.

AN

Sorry, I know waaaay to short for such a long absence but I've just been so god-awfully busy. Please forgive me :(


	9. Messages

Daydream1- I love u, u made such a lame day sooo much nicer w/ ur review. I do know Sarmatians and Amazons are connected (e-mail me to chat about it!). Damara was just this name I liked, but now I'm trying to find more names that are more celtic.

Sorry to those reviewers who I don't respond to. I AM mentally retarded in that direction.

Magnus ate up the ground in front him with gigantic strides that would be hard to match by any standards. Damara pushed, kneading her hands along his neck to urge him to a faster pace. She barely believed it, but Magnus' legs moved even faster along the dirt with her urgings. She loved her horse, especially when he could carry her away from unpleasant encounters such as the one she'd just had with Arturius.

Finally, after going through in her mind all that had transpired since she had arrived at Hadrian's Wall, Damara looked up to find she had passed the boundaries and walls of the fort and was now riding past a thickly misted forest.

Pulling on Magnus' reins, she managed to slow him down to a minor walk, although she could feel that he still had more energy by the way he kept pulling on the reins.

"Stop that" she scolded him. He stopped, only to start chewing on the bit, getting his slimy green saliva all over his muzzle.

Looking to the woods, she felt an eerie sensation at the back of her neck. Scanning the trees, she relaxed, not visibly, when she found nothing. Still, considering that her horse was white and spotted, not to mention gargantuan, she didn't let her guard down for a second.

Focusing her body towards Magnus, she stroked and petted his neck to appear to be soothing his abounding energy.

A bush rustled softly, almost too softly for Damara to hear. But she did. She was _not_ some second-rate scout from Rome. She was an Amazon, with all the skills and prowess that that word entailed. She had been mentored by Bremusa, one of the most feared and powerful women she had ever known. Bremusa had been the fighting queen of her nation, while Damara's mother had been the Amazonian queen of commerce, as was the custom of the matriarchy.

She smiled quietly to herself, waiting for her appraiser to show themselves. Without even a whisper, she moved her hand back to her saddle in an inconspicuous manner. Arthur might not have known it, but she had hidden daggers concealed within the leather of her saddle.

Another whisper of leaves, the sound of woven leather.

Damara froze, hope bursting in her chest at the recognition of that sound. Barely daring to breathe, she slowly turned Magnus until they both faced the forest head on. She scanned the forest again, this time closer than before.

Closing her eyes and taking a breath, she called a greeting in British.

The bushes straight in front of Damara shook violently.

Damara threw her eyes open, focusing on the figure that had leaped out from behind the foliage.

"Annuska?' she said hesitantly. She wasn't able to make her out because of the blue paint she wore.

"Damara!" came the exultant cry from forest. Damara's older sister came bounding out of the woods, stopping at the forest's edge to say hello to Magnus.

Damara slid off Magnus' back and grabbed her sister in a huge hug.

"Ana, I was so worried" she said softly into her sister's hair, "I thought the Romans had killed you. I had no idea where you were!".

She grabbed her sister by the shoulders and held her back so as to look at Annuska' face.

Ana's face was beaming as she looked at her sister. Damara felt the same.

"Ana, I thought they had killed you!" Damara said, her voice almost breaking.

"No! I wouldn't let those Roman pigs disgrace me with a death at their hands!" Annuska said with disgust, "They are not worthy of _ever _touching you or I".

Damara laughed shortly.

"Then what happened to you?" Damara asked with fervor, her curiosity piqued by her sister's vehement disgust at the Romans.

"Well, I had gone scouting, as you had suggested, when I heard shouts from the campsite. Well, no, that is not true, I heard the dog first. Nissa's dog howling. Then came the shouts," Annuska paused for breath, gulping air before she continued, " I tied my horse to a tree near where I was, then I ran back to the campsite as fast as I could without making a lot of noise. It was then that I saw you being held at sword point by a filthy Roman pig".

Annuska paused here to spit at the word "Roman". Damara spat at it with her.

"I listened to what they were saying to you, and I saw them put you on Magnus' back. Then I saw the girls".

Damara closed her eyes, pained at the memory of her girls' treacherous deaths. They hadn't deserved to die like that.

Annuska's voice was choked a little bit as she finished her story in a rush. "Then, I saw them burn the bodies, and take you away. But no before they took you off the horses with Hana and Kiri and beat you all severely, as sick as those two were. I followed your journey, until you were transferred into the wagon and traveled beyond the wall. I couldn't follow you without being discovered, as I was dressed in full Woad paint, so I washed it off and followed as fast as I could. I was hoping that Arturius would see the wrong of what his soldiers did, and would free you, but I couldn't be sure." Annuska smiled, holding up a bundle that Damara hadn't noticed till now, "So I stole some Roman clothing and was going to search the fort for your prison cells. But I guess now I won't have to" Annuska finished, beaming again.

Damara grinned, unable to resist the joy she felt at seeing her older sister again.

When they had first met, a week ago, Damara had been anxious and uneasy at the same time. She was about to meet her long lost sister who didn't even know that she existed. She hadn't even known that if she _was_ actually going to meet her sister. But she and the rest of her Amazons had used a little bit of sneaking, and bribery, to determine where her sister was.

They had searched for a month and a half, disguising themselves as Romans or Britons at different turns. Lillithia had taught Damara the language of the Celts, as well as Latin, so that she could converse with Britons and Romans alike, not to mention her father's family. They had bribed Romans for information on Woads, although not many of those tips had led her to her sister. They had only pointed to the north and said "there".

The Britons on the other hand, were beyond helpful. They had welcomed the amazons into their homes upon hearing their mission, and told them as much as they could of the Woad resistance. Once they had spoken to these families, they had been pointed in a _real_ direction towards which they were told they could find resistance fighters.

They had walked their horses northward through the forest, slowly and sedately, not rushing, just listening and looking for signs of woads. They had been attacked by a group of blue people, all of the amazons on the defensive so as not to wound _too many_ woads.

Damara had called for a stop to the fighting in Gaelic, which surprised the Britons so much that they _did_ cease their attack. They had eyed her and the rest of her girls with apprehension and suspicion, fearful of Roman spies or tattles. They had questioned her viciously, demanding answers for their harsh questions. After ten minutes of this, Damara spoke of their real purpose. The woads had still been suspicious of them, even more so when she had mentioned the name of Merlin's niece. Damara had finally been so fed up that she pulled out the amulets her mother had given her.

"Mara, if you're going to find your sister, you're going to need this" Lillithia had said, only a month before her death. She held out a half circle of carved wood. It had swirling designs on it of owls and the goddess Athena. It had jagged teeth on the non-circular side.

Lillithia had explained that she and Damara's father had had them made for each other during the first few months of their marriage. Her father had a matching token that featured stags and hounds with the goddess Artemis.

"Your father worshipped Athena because of her wisdom. It was his own thirst for wisdom that brought us together, so he felt he owed her a deep debt. His token is of Artemis because he thought of me as the huntress, powerful and above men. That is why we have each other's amulets. To remind each other of our own love and memories." Lillithia had smiled sadly.

"But mother, if father has the other token, why would I be able to find Annuska?" Damara had said foolishly.

"That's just it αγάπη. When Annuska was born, we had a copy of our combined necklaces made. Hers does not separate, as ours do. It is one circle, completely joined, representing the union of our blood." Lillithia sighed, then continued, "Once you were born, I had another of the one combined circle made for you, because I still had the plans for the pendants in my personal records."

She reached to the table beside her, to a package that Damara had failed to notice before. Lillithia held it out to her daughter, smiling encouragingly when Damara faltered.

Her hands shaking, Damara picked up the package. She slowly unwrapped the fabric to reveal a large medallion, depicting just that which her mother had spoken of. On one side, the carvings were detailed wondrously, on the opposite side, there were the names of her parents, Arden carved in signs, and Lillithia carved in Greek.

"Now," Lillithia said, "You will need my pendant because your sister will know and recognize it as a match to that of your fathers, not to mention you will have a matching amulet to the complete circle that she has. Arden would never think of removing his own pendant."

She looked fondly at Damara.

"Don't worry αγάπη. Even if my plan fails you, you will be able to find your sister. I know you will." Lillithia had stated.

They had shared a moment of silence, both pondering a meeting with Annuska. Then Lillithia had begun to speak again.

"Damara there is one other matter that I need you to attend to when you go on your journey …"

The memory had faded as the woad fighters had begun to splutter.

"Where did you get that?" one man had said in a near-shout. From the way he was holding himself, Damara surmised that this was the leader of the group. He was painted in a thicker amount of dye than the others and he had several large tattoos. His hair was slicked in a tight clump of knots at the back of his head, and he was carrying a large, rough hewn axe.

"I received this from the hand of my mother, wife of my father, the Briton Arden" Damara said in her royal court voice.

The entire group of fighters' eyes had all rounded as large as ale mugs at her mentioning the name Arden.

"_You are the daughter of Arden?_" the man had said in astonishment.

"Yes" Damara had answered clearly. She was beginning to be bored by their astonishment.

The man had suddenly puffed up in rage, brandishing his axe at her as though to ward off a demon.

"Who are you? Roman spies! Where did you steal this!" he had screamed in fury.

His questioning of her credentials had not only set off Damara's temper, but also that of both opposing fighters. Damara could hear the growls and sounds of anger coming from behind her. The sound of a bowstring being stretched came from behind Damara. It made her glad that she knew that she could count on Kirima to always be prepared.

Her eyes blazing, Damara slid slowly from her seat on Magnus and handed the reins to Qatara very deliberately. Turning slowly until she faced the woad leader, she stretched to her full height of 10 hands (AN- measurement method of horses, or, if I'm being retarded, then she's 5'6" ½). She stood there for a few seconds, staring at the man who she could had killed seven times over in the past ten seconds without his squad even realizing he was dead.

"Sir," she began slowly, so as to not lose her control and just grab Beofre's spear and run the man through with it, "We are NOT friends of Rome, nor shall we EVER be. We are of the Amazon nation, merely on a journey to find a lost member of my family. The mere name of Rome makes me sick to hear it spoken."

The woad fighters had relaxed their grips on their weapons at her adamant refusal of connections with Rome, but hadn't sheathed them. Her girls hadn't even budged at her speech.

His eyes suspicious now, the leader asked Damara one question; "Whom do you seek?"

She had smirked slightly.

Damara was staring straight at his eyes when she replied "I seek my sister". Some of the Britons had opened their mouths as though to speak, but Damara had cut all of them off before they could.

"Her name is Annuska".

The clearing had erupted in shouts and yells of surprise.

From there, Damara had explained her entire journey to the troupe of woads. After that, she and her squad had been escorted through roman territory using secret trails made by the resistance fighters in order to evade the routine roman scouting groups.

It took only two weeks to travel to the area where her sister was stationed. The entire trip, Damara had progressed from being a cool, clear-headed leader to a twitching fool.

By the time they got to the camp, Damara was clutching her reins so tightly that she couldn't release her fingers from them.

They had been stopped by a scruffy looking woman tattooed heavily and covered in vicious looking throwing daggers. She had spoken viciously in Gaelic to their escort, apparently assuming that they wouldn't understand what she was saying. However, Damara and her company understood every word. Their escorts also knew this, although they failed to mention it, being far more content to simply sit back and smirk.

"Who the hell are these women, Antedios! What in Hedu's name were you thinking! Or were you not EVEN THINKING AT ALL?" She screamed at the leader.

"Well, he _may_ have been thinking, although not too clearly I suppose" Hana said in a friendly Gaelic tone to the woman.

Now the woman was wearing an astonished gaze. Her mouth was even hanging open. Damara didn't even budge. She was too nervous.

The woad escort did however find Hana's comments tremendously funny. Many of them tried hard to hide smiles with a hand or disguise a laugh with a cough. One scout just bowed her head to the pommel of her saddle, and shook silently with laughter.

"What, how?.." the woman said, dumbfounded. She gazed at the women with a mixture of stupefaction and suspicion. If this was going to be the constant type of reception that she was going to get with her squad, Damara was simply going to don the attire of Britons.

"Itasca, these women are here to see Annuska." Antedios said, in a tone that didn't brook argument.

Itasca bristled at that one.

"What do you mean,_ they're here to see Annuska?_ They are obviously not Britons, so they are foreign to me, which means that they do not get to see my mistress. If they're foreign, they should not _even know of her name_. Why didn't you just kill them? Besides," she said, nostrils flaring at Hana, "she's busy".

"**Enough**, Itasca."

The command came quietly, but with such force behind it that all the Amazons immediately snapped to attention. Damara's head swung up so fast that she heard her neck crack. She scanned the crowd, almost disbelieving.

_Mother's dead, Damara, so stop conjuring memories_.

Her shoulders sagged slightly. But then, looking around, she saw all of her squad in a perfect row of pairs, sitting on their horses with their hands holding their reins and shield with the other hand clutching the lances they always had ready. Damara now resembled Itasca.

Her head turned at the exact moment that a ghost appeared.

Her mother stepped from the shadows of a tent canopy, young in body and movements. But something was wrong, something was, _different_, about her.

_No, that's not right_, Damara thought, _everything's different about her_.

She was dressed as a woad, with tightly bound leather boots, and pants, with a flowing green robe latched at her chest with a wooden toggle. She had the same black hair as Lillithia, but hers was loose and flowing, unlike her mothers. Lillithia always had hers coiled and twisted for court.

Damara had been so absorbed in taking in her mother's ghost that she didn't even realize that the woman was staring at her with an expression of curiosity, and wariness.

"Who are you, that you are asking after my name all over Briton, Lady?" she inquired of Damara.

Kirima snorted at _that_.

"I seek my sister" she replied simply, too stupefied to say anything more complicated.

"Lady, your sister cannot be here. You are in a camp that is completely made up of Britons. There are no foreigners here like yourself. You are mistaken." She said in a tone that made Damara faint with homesickness for her mother.

_Be strong Mara. You cant' stop now, not when you're so close. **Think Mara! Think!**_

"No, you are the one who is mistaken. I seek my sister, daughter of Lillithia and Arden." Damara said, staring piercingly at the woman who was her long lost sister.

Annuska's face lost all of it's color. She stammered, at a loss as to what she should say. Then, a firmness came over her features, although the color was not back in her face.

"That is impossible. I am the only child of Arden and Lillithia" Damara saw her falter, but only for a mere fraction of a second "Besides, you are dressed as a Sarmatian, and my mother was a Spartan".

Beofre threw back her head and laughed, her whole body shaking with the force of her humor.

Damara couldn't resist joining in either, joined closely by the rest of her squad.

The woads all stared at her in amazement. Annuska was staring slightly anxiously at her, although Damara knew that she would soon find out the failure of her test.

Gasping as an attempt to regain breath, Beofre wiped the tears of laughter from her face with a giggle.

"Da-damara! She lies as bad as you do!" Beofre collapsed into giggles again, holding onto her saddle for support.

Smiling, Damara turned to Annuska. Straightening her face, with the sounds of her comrades chuckles behind her, she addressed Annuska.

"That is impossible. My mother was no Greek, for you are fair of skin. Your mother was an Amazon, as was mine" She stated clearly, thankful that she was lucid enough to say things so eloquently.

With that, she withdrew her amulets from her robes.

From there, she and her sister, with just her comrades for company, had journeyed back in the direction of the Wall to recover a cache of gifts that the Amazons had buried for when Damara had met her sister. They had cut their former journey in half, the hurry that Damara and Annuska felt to get to know each other was that great.

Annuska had wanted no Britons with them, for the sake of privacy, and she wanted to meet Damara's closest friends.

Along the way, Hana had fallen and scraped her back badly, and Kirima had been hit in the head by a low slung branch when she was making fun of Damara. Both had been recovering when the Romans had struck. Damara had merely been delivering some salve to Hana and herbal tea to Kiri.

Damara looked sadly at Ana.

"They went out fighting at least"

Ana smiled back, just as sad.

"It's what they would have preferred."

Taking a deep breath, Ana looked at her sister with a sober face.

"Mara, we can have a party ready to get you back to camp by tomorrow morning. I sent off a messenger just before I came here. I told them bring medical supplies, in case you and the girls were injured further. Where are the girls anyway?"

Damara rolled her eyes.

"Probably off seeking some suitable bachelor to help me spawn, the wretches".

Ana laughed.

"They really took it to heart then? Mother's command to get you to further our family line?"

Mara groaned.

"They took as though it were a command from Artemis, Athena help me! But anyways, where do you need us to be tomorrow morning?"

"I think you should leave southwards, then you can circle around to the opposite direction and we'll take it from there."

"Good. We'll be there an hour after the sun rises."

"Be safe"

"Don't worry Ana, we're amazons, we can handle ourselves."

Giving her sister one last hug, she stood holding Magnus' reins as she watched her sister disappear into the underbrush, blending seamlessly with her surroundings.

Sighing, she turned and mounted Magnus.

"Come on boy, we have a few things to do"

Letting out an apprehensive breath, she turned Magnus back towards the wall.

AN- hope you enjoy! I've got some good stuff on the way!


	10. Making Plans

Alright, I know that I am going to late updater hell, so I decided to treat you all to a nice dose of fun. I also really needed to focus, cause I kinda have an extremely evil amount of work to deal with.

Daydream1- umm, where did you get the idea that Damara and Gawain have to marry? That one kinda came out of nowhere and smacked me in the gut. And there's no need to hypnotize me, I'll update… soon (laughs evilly)

SpectralLady- thanx for the compliments on the last chapter, it's appreciated!(P.S.- her horse's name is Magnus, not Mangle, but it's all good)

Sarmatian-woman- you don't know for sure if I'm greek or not! Mwahaha! Anyways, past _that_ creepy little moment I just had, that was really astute of you to know that word was greek. And, ahem, SCORE! I have officially made it onto a favorite story list, hahaha.

MORWEN12- that was really straight to the point, so props to you for that!

Disclaimer: yes, sadly, it is true, I own nothing.

Damara rode slowly into the fort, contemplating all that had happened. Two days ago she had been stuck in a pitch black carriage with a dislocated limb. Now she was flirting with a knight belonging to the camp of her sister's enemy. Sometimes her enemy too.

As she passed under the gates of the fort, she sensed something was different. There seemed to be a kind of commotion going on in the center courtyard.

Pulling Magnus to a walk, she observed all that was going on from his back as she entered the courtyard gates.

All of the knights were out here, even Arthur. Jols was leading a group of horses into the stables off the courtyard, all of them covered in a sheen of sweat similar to the one that comes only after the horse has been ridden hard, to cover a great distance. Such as the one that covered Magnus now. She could see the heads of all the knights, crowding around the back area of the courtyard.

Scowling slightly, Damara stopped Magnus and dismounted, leading him over to where Hana and Kirima were leaning against a pillar.

"What's going on?" she asked the two, never taking her eyes off of the backs of the knights.

Kirima answered her, her eyes taking in and assessing all that was around her.

"Other knights. They were out scouting, to the west when we were brought in. Arturius sent them on some mission to a Roman village in that direction. They bring news to their commander and bawdy stories to their comrades" she said, her voice as serious as it ever got.

Hana snorted.

"Men".

Kirima and Damara snorted at that as well.

They were cut sharply from their thoughts at the sound of Arthur's voice. He stood amongst his men, looking at Damara.

"Come join us, Ladies. I would like you to meet the rest of my men." He said in that constantly somber voice of his.

Damara didn't nod her acquiescence, merely moved towards the group. Hana and Kirima fell in behind her. They approached the men at a warrior's walk, wary, yet assured in their strength. Dagonet and Galahad opened the circle to them, revealing six other men besides the knights that they had already met. Two of them sat, and the other four stood.

Three of the four standing were covered head to toe in mud, and smelled as if they hadn't bathed in weeks. They also seemed slightly out of breath. Damara almost laughed at the way they stared at the Amazons as though they had three heads each.

She had forgotten that she and the girls were all wearing their work outfits. The trews were known to be worn by men, but when her father had first come to court, he had worn them. Lillithia had taken a shine to them and it simply became a permanent court and working class fashion. The entire Amazon nation had taken on the style to wear the leather pants when working or relaxing. The girls also had on leather tunics, although the tunics were tightly fitted so as not to impair the wearer's movement.

The strangers continued to ogle the girls to such an extent that Damara looked to Arthur for help, only to find him looking at _her_ pointedly, as if to say "it's your own fault, don't blame me".

She puffed air at him, like a horse. He lifted a brow sardonically. Finally, he turned to the other strangers and motioned to them.

"Knights, these are some…guests…of the Wall and of us. They are Amazon…envoys…who have been peacefully roaming Briton for a time and now they are staying here until the morrow". He said with all the grace of a Roman commander. Because Roman commanders have grace. Yeah, maybe when they're dead.

Damara grimaced inwardly. This was not the first time that she had heard that kind of tone coming from a roman. Nor would it probably be the last she knew. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Gawain looking at her intently.

_Oh great,_ she thought_, the man who I find impossible to resist has found me._ _Although if a girl is going to have a stalker, it's better that they're insanely appealing like this man._

_Oh great. New dimensions for my insanity, _she thought hysterically._ Get a hold of yourself! You're a warrioress, not a hapless barmaid! you can't even allow yourself to have _any_ kind of feeling for this man! EVER! _

"Milady, had we known that there were gentle ladies such as you were here, in this barbaric wasteland of a land, we would have returned more speedily than we did" said a large knight with brown hair, bending as he said so to kiss Damara's hand. His hair however, might simply have been brown owing to the amount of mud caked into it. He grinned cheekily at his own gallantry and winked at her.

Damara lifted an eyebrow, smirking slightly.

Bors shoved the man, laughing along with the rest of the knights, right back into the mud. "This idiot, I am ashamed to say my lady, is my brother, Lionel. He _thinks_ he is a lady-charmer, like Lancelot." He said, looking disapprovingly at his brother who lay sprawled in the mud at his feet.

"I _am_ a lady-charmer, you callous oaf" Lionel said with as much dignity as he could muster while lying in a pool of mud.

"The only ladies you charm are the ones down at the pub asking for money if you want to charm them" Bors shot back, which set off the rest of the knights guffawing. Except for Tristan. He just smirked.

"Lady-charming aside, Milady, these are the rest of my knights. The two covered in mud are Cador and Perceval, who have been away on business with Lionel for a fortnight. The knight next to them is Pellinor, who has been ill in our sick hall. The three seated were recovering from wounds. The one on the left is Kay, who had sprain of the foot. The one on the right is Bedivere who had a head wound. And the one in the middle is Erec, who possessed a rather nasty gash from a woad." Arthur stated, in his deep voice, ignoring the antics of his knights.

Damara inclined her head slightly to Arthur in thanks for his introductions. She said nothing, merely at a standstill with his impossible roman politics.

Arthur turned to his men.

"Knights, these are the Ladies Kirima, Hana, and Damara."

Kirima snorted.

"_Lady_ Damara…." She said in a small voice.

The knights looked at her with puzzled expressions. Damara chose to ignore it. Lionel still lay in the mud, wide-eyed.

"Sir Lionel", she inquired politely, "May I help you?"

He looked at her strangely. "If you wish my lady", he said hesitantly.

He held out his mud-encrusted hand to her pink, smooth hand. He looked surprised to feel the rough calluses on her hands, but he chose to say nothing. As she bent down to help him up, she brace her free hand in the mud as a support. Using next to none of her muscles, she helped the dirty knight up.

"Thank you, Milady" he said with a puzzled expression.

"My pleasure Sir Lionel" Damara said pleasantly.

Turning abruptly on her heel, she walked towards the gateway. As she passed Kirima, her arm moved suddenly up and forwards, a complete blur. The next thing the knights saw was Kirima spluttering, with a face full of mud, and Damara walking very fast, _away_ from the knights and Kirima. Hana stood hunched over laughing uncontrollably. Kirima turned quickly, spluttering, to chase after Damara, but not before she socked Hana right in the stomach. Hana's breath came out in a _whoosh_ as she crumpled to the ground.

Bors broke out in amused laughter, inspiring the other Knights to break out into laughter as well.

Sometime later, Damara thought about her situation. The sun had set a few moments ago, and she was slightly bored. She had less than half a day left at the fort.

Less than half a day before these men again became her enemies.

Sighing heavily, she looked in the mirror of her room for the night. Or rather, Gawain's room. The young knight had again given his bed to her for the night, although without the obscurity of the night before. It was in no uncertain terms that he would sleep elsewhere, with him making no attempt to change that situation in the middle of the night if he was feeling lonely.

Damara had been fighting her feelings for the attractive knight all day. She could not deny that she had been feeling far more than kindly towards him since her arrival as a prisoner. But as much as she desired the man, there still lay the fact in a matter of hours, he would be her enemy.

"Athena guide me, I cannot decide" Damara offered up.

Only silence met her prayer to her patron. Suddenly a knock sounded at her door.

Damara leaned over and opened it. Hana stood in the doorway. She looked up as her queen stared at her.

"Good. I needed to speak to you anyways." Damara said. She returned to making sure all of her belongings were where they should be before turning to where Hana had seated herself on the bed. Closing the door, she looked over at her second-in-command.

"I have news for you, and orders, Hana" She started.

Hana visibly straightened. Her look serious, she queried "So we're goin' back then, are we? To your…" Ever present of spies, she chose to phrase her words carefully "relations?"

Damara was only slightly eased by the discretion that her lifelong friend had held for their relationship and Damara's status since childhood.

"Yes, Hana, back to my relations. In the south. I know that you meant to visit my relations to the north but apparently they are unable to host anyone at present. We shall rejoin the southern part of my connections and simply have to impose upon their hospitality again." Damara stated.

"Alright then, if we must. And , when shall we leave?" Hana asked, getting up to go.

"About two hours past daybreak please, Hana" Damara said, about to usher her out the door. She reached for the latch, but Hana beat her to it.

She looked up, not really surprised, just dreading what she knew was coming. Hana reached for some linens hanging over the hipbath, and proceeded to stuff them into the crack under the door.

Damara sat on the bed with a sigh. Hana turned, and stood over her with her arms crossed, just the way Lillithia had when Damara disobeyed orders as a child.

"So we have our orders, and that's nice and pat for Hana, now is it? You better tell me what's bothering you, because I know it damned for sure isn't about returning to your long-lost sister whom you've only just met for the first time a week ago. So come on, what is it?" Hana demanded, staring down at her princess and commander who looked like a child caught stealing a sweetie.

"well…" Damara began, clearly unwilling to offer up her feelings.

"Oh for heaven's sake Damara!" Hana shouted, throwing her hands up in supplication for divine help in dealing with her difficult leader. She knelt quickly, and looked intensely at Damara.

"If you wish to take the Sarmatian to your bed," She paused, grinning. "Or rather, back to his own, then you do it. Amazons take only captured warriors, nameless and worthless except for their fighting prowess and breeding potential to their beds. Surely our tribe has not become so weakened that you have not forgotten that?"

Damara shook her head, more than a little shamefaced.

Hana smiled a little at that.

"You mustn't ever forget that you are a queen Damara. You have the right to have what you wish, although you mustn't forget that after this night, it must be over between the two of you. I don't think that I need to tell you what that means for you." She said.

Hana's words struck a chord with Damara. She knew that after they left the fort, she would never be able to see Gawain ever again, yet she was so powerfully attracted to him that she didn't wish to know him and then end their relationship within a span of hours. However, she was always first and foremost a warrior, then a queen, then a woman. And nothing could reverse that order for Damara.

She looked up at Hana.

"Thank you for aiding me in this Hana. My pathway is now clear from the fog of my mind. Your guidance is not given in vain" Damara said, knowing it would ease her warrior's burden of mind.

Hana nodded, and knelt before Damara in a sign of fealty. Without speaking she rose, and left the room.

Giving a sigh, Damara turned to her trunk.

Now, she thought, it is time to play.


End file.
